Lovefools Part 1
by Draquia
Summary: A technicality in a wish leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past, with just one person left with faith in her. In character. Canon compliant. The Seven Year Gap as you've never seen it before. Cover by CrazyJen on Deviantart.
1. Wish on a Dragon

**Lovefools - Part 1**

**Summary:**A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Lovefools was an idea I originally thought of six years ago, but could never make it quite flower. The original version is still on my profile, but it no longer has much to do with this fic. I've wanted to write my own interpretation of the Seven Year Gap for some time now. After reading several other K/18 fics, I also realised I wanted to write an alternative to the common theme I see for this pairing, which is Krillin miraculously getting a higher power level than Eighteen, usually so that he can physically subdue her and be the dominant figure in their relationship. I believe this idea, aside from being obviously non-canon, greatly undermines Eighteen as a character, and does not do justice to the love that arose between the two. It's too simplistic (not to mention ridiculously sexist) to indicate that a relationship is only good when the male is physically stronger than the female. My fic relies on the canon premises that a) Eighteen is stronger than a super saiyan, and therefore the strongest woman on earth, as well as being stronger than Krillin, and b) she is not a murderous psychopath.

Part 1 of Lovefools not only deals with the relationship between Eighteen and Krillin, it is also about their development as individuals. So whilst this is a story about the Seven Year Gap, it is first and foremost a story, not just a fluff fic. So please, do read and see the Krillin/Eighteen love story as you've never seen it told before.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Chapter One - Wish on a Dragon**

*******X*X*X***

As Eighteen flew down from Kami's Lookout, her head was buzzing with questions and great frustration. On top of everything else that'd happened, she'd somehow become Krillin's damsel in the eyes of his friends? And why on Earth was he taking responsibility for her as if she was already his? It was infuriating, but there were more important things to deal with just now. She had at last recollected herself from the shock and horror of Cell, stored it away to deal with later, and her calm was back in place. Her face was a mask once more, and it would take more than this shock to break a wall like hers. She was glad for it, for it meant things were back to normal.

On the ground, while the wish of the Eternal Dragon Shenlong had brought back the victims of Cell's holocaust, it could not restore the damaged land. Eighteen supposed whole countries would need to be remapped. It made path finding harder, especially as she had never been to Kami's lookout before, and had been unconscious all the way there. She did however, have her own navigational tools built into her system, and could not be confused easily. At least she knew where she was going. It was the only thing she felt she did know.

Her flight speed was incredible as she left the landscapes behind like pavement bricks. She could pass right over someone's head and be a speck in the horizon before they'd even realised she was there. Any normal fighter's ki shone brightly during flight, but Dr Gero's design made her own ki silent, so she was even less detectable than those few who could fly faster than she. Nonetheless, the distance she had to cover was vast, and it took her a good couple of hours to reach her goal. Two frustrating, thought-suppressing hours in which she forced down the million questions she could not answer for herself, and could not bring herself to ask anyone else just yet.

In the late afternoon, she came upon a broken series of islands. The sea around them was tumultuous, and the islands which had been sunk and destroyed by Cell had still not finished crumbling and reshaping themselves on the ocean floor. Most of the islands had disappeared since the last time she was here. It was a complete wreckage. Eighteen found herself wondering briefly what had become of the people who had lived on these islands. Her target however, was still clear despite the changing terrain. She flew slowly overhead until the was sure she had the precise position over the water, then dived like a falcon straight into the ocean.

She re-checked her bearings underwater. It would take quite some time before she would need to worry about air, and a tremendous amount of water pressure to affect her internal equilibrium. Deep in the ocean she'd be in trouble, but where a human's ears would be bleeding, the pressure in her head was completely comfortable. A few minutes of swimming deeper revealed that her target was somewhere at the bottom of one of the still collapsing islands. Growing alarmed, she sped towards it using ki, as it would get her there much faster than swimming.

Eighteen was the only being in all the world who would have known there was even anything down there. There was no ki signal, no sign of life whatsoever. And yet her position was exactly correct. Her brother's design was a perfect match to her own, and their bionic components a very close DNA match as well. Such were their internal tracking systems that one would always be able to find the other. And sometimes, Eighteen felt that it wasn't just her mechanical systems that allowed her to be aware of her brother's presence. They were a set. Meant to be together. He would never be able to go where she couldn't find him, and that was a comfort.

She was relying more and more heavily on her mechanical senses as she went deeper however, as her vision was made nearly useless by both the depth she was at and all the mud clouding the water from the collapsing earth. Loose dirt that had been above ground for thousands of years was crashing into an ocean that wasn't used to it yet, and the result was chaos. On the plus side, at least it scared away the predators of the deep too.

As Eighteen soon discovered, loose soil wasn't all that was crumbling down from above. Huge chunks of compacted earth, trees and enormous boulders were sinking down around her ears, and she couldn't see a thing. She knew where she was heading, but couldn't see the obstacles in the way until one crashed right on top of her. A rock the size of a house had hurtled out of the underwater dust cloud, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Not enough to injure her, but it put her quite a way off course before she was able to turn around and vaporize it. Suddenly she realised what a dangerous mission this was going to be, and she tried to go more carefully after that. If she strained her vision she could just see obstacles falling around her in about a two foot radius. She stopped short just in time to miss another rock, and managed to swim to avoid a falling tree, but got hit by a chunk of earth so large it shadowed her entire vision. This one she was luckily able to punch and break in half before it threw her too far off. A few feet more and she hit something solid - the last of the island's foundation. She was near its base, so this part at least was still intact for the moment, though for how much longer she couldn't tell. All these islands which had once stood tall and mountainous above the ocean were levelling themselves out, making the very floor of the ocean higher and raising the sea level. She had no guarantee how long she had until she was buried under the weight of an entire island.

She knew she was close, but she couldn't see him - where was he? Her frustration was building. If only the water was clear she'd have had him out of there already! Growling in frustration she produced a sphere of ki around her and forced it to expand rapidly, momentarily clearing the water. There! It was barely visible under all the mud of the island's wall, but there was the dirt-covered end of her brother's orange scarf sticking out from under a mass of collapsed dirt of the ocean floor. She swooped down and grasped it, just as more falling dirt clouded her vision again. It didn't matter. She had him now, but in her rashness she had overlooked the damage her ki sphere had done to the already failing structure of the island Seventeen was buried under. It started to collapse in great earnest now, a deep and threatening rumbling began on the ocean floor as slowly the island's infrastructure fell apart.

Eighteen cursed through the water and worked as fast as she could to unearth her brother before she was buried too. Even her own supernatural lung capacity was beginning to weaken, and she knew she couldn't last much longer. She threw away the boulders and the trees which had settled in rapid fire, but unfortunately also sped up the collapsing process as she did. Finally in near panic she simply ki blasted her way through all the debris, leaving just a thin layer of dirt lying across her prone brother. The island was well and truly falling on top of her now, and with seconds left she shoved her way into the dirt and found Seventeen's arm. Yanking it, she hauled him clear of the ocean's bottom and used her ki full force to shoot her through the water away from the crumbling island base. She was going at such force that she actually punched both her own and Seventeen's way through several obstacles which she didn't even glance at long enough to register.

How far to the surface? A kilometre? Two? Her lungs were burning, and her life was now in danger, but her greatest worry was for Seventeen. He had been down there for hours, ever since the wish had been made. His bionic systems would have shut down long ago. How long until his cybernetic systems shut down as well and he could not be revived? How long did she have to still have a chance at saving her brother? There at last, the light was getting brighter through the murky water, and she knew the surface was close. She redoubled her efforts, closing, closing, and finally she exploded out of the water and into the sky, gasping.

It was almost dark when Eighteen finally made it back to the surface. Exhausted from having strained her lungs for so long, she immediately flew to the nearest stable island and landed on it, gently releasing her burden as she did so. She fell to her hands and knees, so disoriented and out of breath that she didn't trust herself to stand properly just yet. When at last her head stopped swirling, she made her way back over to her brother. He was lying completely still on his back, head rolled lifelessly to one side and body sprawled across the grass.

'Seventeen?' She called his name, somehow hoping he would just come back if she called him. 'Seventeen.' But there was no response. Eighteen knew it was hopeless, but she laid her head down onto his chest and watched his mouth. No breathing. No heartbeat. By human standards he was already dead, but Eighteen knew enough about her own internal workings to know that there were emergency cybernetic neurons in both their brains, which would keep Seventeen's electronic parts running for a time, and if directed correctly, could interfere with his biological neurons and order his body to work again. However, once his bio-systems stopped functioning, it was only a matter of time before his cyber-system ran out of ki-generated power and died as well. Eighteen knew all this, but she had neither the facilities nor the capabilities to perform the very exact surgery needed to help him. She was a well-designed android, but she was no brain surgeon.

She tried sending him a burst of ki energy directly to his heart. Once. Twice. Her hands shook. Three times and still no reaction. She didn't trust herself to try and do the same to his brain. That may have been where his cybernetic neurons were, but biological or cybernetic, the brain was a delicate, complicated place, and her ki blast could just as easily finish him as bring him back.

This was beyond frustration. It was beyond unfair. How could anyone so powerful as herself be so helpless to save her own little brother? How could anyone so powerful as her brother be in such desperate need of saving? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She and Seventeen were supposed to be the universe's ultimate warriors - unstoppable and unchallenged, immortal and flawless and completely in control of their own destinies. She and Seventeen were finally free of the total subservience Dr Gero had demanded of them. Wasn't that what the death of the old scientist was all about? How did he still manage to get back at them through Cell, even from beyond the grave? Somehow he had sentenced them both to a fate worse than death, more terrifying than rape, more belittling than defeat. He had taken away everything that they were - their freedom, their choices, their lives, their very identity was simply absorbed into something else. It was the worst thing he could have done to them.

Yet somehow, somehow they had been brought back. Somehow they had been given another chance to live. What kind of sick sense of humour did fate have, if that second chance meant she had to watch her brother die again? She had found Seventeen at the exact coordinates at which he had been absorbed. What kind of horrible irony was it that Seventeen would be wished back to life, only to perish again because he was brought back in the same location - a location which was now underwater - in which he died? Eighteen gritted her teeth as her hands balled into tight fists. There she knelt beside her only friend and family, desperately trying to keep some control of her body, keeping the despair and exhaustion at bay. She breathed deeply. This was not going to help Seventeen. As long as his android brain was still functioning, he still had a chance, and Eighteen could not afford to waste it. She was alone in the middle of nowhere. She had no idea where she could find Sixteen or even if he could help if she could. She needed someone's help, and she didn't know where to turn to. The only person she knew for sure who could have helped Seventeen was lying in little pieces on the floor of the lab the twins were created in. That didn't help either.

Finally, a feasible idea came to her, when she remembered the state she herself had been in after being spat back out by Cell. Yes, it might work. Shaking just a little bit, Eighteen got to her feet, bent down and picked up her brother's body. Taking a moment to steady herself, she blasted back into the air at full speed towards her new destination, knowing this was her brother's last chance.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:**Welcome to end of the first chapter! Please leave behind any thoughts or constructive criticism you have to offer, it is much appreciated.

The Z warriors do comment on the difficultly of trying to wish Goku back after the Frieza Saga, because Planet Namek - where he died - no longer exists, so Goku would have been brought back into empty space and died again. Seventeen was killed on an island that got beaten around so badly that it collapsed later, and when he was brought back, he got dragged under into the rubble.


	2. Krillin's Welcome

**Summary:** A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Two - Krillin's Welcome**

***X*X*X***

Krillin sped away from Kami's lookout feeling a lot better than when he'd arrived. He felt freer and lighter than he had in three years, ever since the ominous warning adult Trunks had issued to them all. That warning had marred every happy moment any of the Z fighters had, knowing that in all likelihood, everything they held dear would soon perish. But the threat was over, both from the androids Trunks had originally warned them about, and the infinitely more dangerous Cell. They'd been able to undo almost all the damage Cell had caused, and the millions who had perished at Cell's hands – or tail – were able to once again live in peace. It was like a great weight was suddenly lifted off his shoulders, which had been resting there for so long he no longer realised it until it was gone.

But not all had made it out unscathed. Goku's death was now its own weight in Krillin's mind. It was a very sobering thought whenever he dwelt on it, how he could have been saved, if only things had been slightly different. If Piccolo had destroyed Android Seventeen in time, if Krillin himself had managed to bring himself to destroy Android Eighteen, or if Vegeta's pride had allowed him to destroy Cell whilst he was still incomplete. The fault in Goku's death lay with everyone, and so it lay with no one. But Krillin knew that if he had to go back in time to try again, he still wouldn't have been able to do his part in destroying Cell. It just wasn't in his nature to kill someone in the name of the greater good, and Android Eighteen wasn't even evil enough to justify it. It probably didn't help that he was in love with her.

Even now that was a strange, exciting thought. He hadn't said the words out loud yet, but somehow he was both bursting to tell her and mortified at the thought of ever saying something so daring to her face. He remembered all too well her avid dismissal of him, and yet her final glance at him on Kami's lookout had held no anger, no hostility, and it told him that all was not lost. Apparently it had told Yamcha too, because shortly afterward he declared himself the master of love, and graciously made Krillin his disciple. Krillin could only grin to himself at the thought of what those lessons might be like. But at any rate, he would have to be able to see her again for anything to happen, and at the moment that was entirely her decision.

The air was getting colder as the sun sank towards the western horizon, and Krillin felt himself growing sleepy. _Well I've only been almost killed, revived with a senzu bean, helped defeat the greatest foe the universe has yet seen and had an angry android yell at me all in the one day_, he thought bemusedly to himself. He figured he had earned a rest.

Krillin had just tiredly set foot in the door when the lights in the room burst on and he was immediately surrounded by an overjoyed Master Roshi, Oolong and Chiaotsu.

"Krillin! You made it back!"

"So who was it who really beat Cell, we know it couldn't possibly have been Mr Satan..."

"Is everyone alright? How's Tien?"

The last came from Chiaotsu, and the little guy looked so worried that Krillin answered him first.

"Don't sweat it Chiaotsu, Tien's fine. He's probably out there waiting for you now, and it's all safe to go and find him, now Cell's dead." He smiled, and Chiaostu was positively beaming with relief. Krillin didn't pretend to understand the bond between those two, but he was exceptionally glad that Tien had survived so the two would not be separated. He couldn't imagine having to come home and deliver news like that. Thinking of that made him wonder how Gohan had gone, having to tell Chi Chi that his father was not coming back. His face turned sombre. "We lost Goku though." A heavy moment of silence fell in the room, with everyone bowing their heads in grief and respect. After a time, Master Roshi spoke.

"Yes, I knew I felt Goku's energy disappear back there. But, what about Shenlong? Couldn't He bring him back?"

Krillin sighed. "Well no. Shenlong can only bring people back once, remember? Even with Dende as the new Kami, the improved Dragon Balls are still based off the models of the old ones, and Goku's been brought back before."

Then Oolong immediately piped up. "How about the Namek Dragon Balls? They could bring him back, we just have to go to Namek!" There was a small chorus of agreement which Krillin had to raise his voice to be heard over.

"We already thought of that guys!" he interrupted, "Believe me, we all wanted to bring him back more than anything. It was Goku himself who asked us not to do it."

"But...why?" Master Roshi sounded downcast. "Why would he want to leave just when Gohan's growing up?"

"Well you see guys, in the time between Goku's death and when we summoned the Dragon, Goku had been doing some thinking, and he decided it would be better for the Earth if he didn't come back. He said that most of the Earth's threats had come here looking for him, and so it'd be safer and better off without him."

"Well _I_ never saw it that way" said Chiaotsu. "Goku's a good man; he's always been defending the Earth."

"Yes," agreed Roshi heavily, "but you can see where he'd get that idea. As much as I hate to admit it, I sorta see where he's coming from."

"Wait a minute," said Oolong, sounding thoroughly confused, "how did he tell you this when he was already dead?" Krillin rubbed the back of his head and frowned.

"This could take a lot of explaining, and I'm pretty hungry. Have we got anything to eat?"

At that moment, Turtle walked in, and Krillin gave an enthusiastic "Hi! How have you been?" For a moment, Turtle stared at him like he'd seen a ghost. The next thing he was smiling and awkwardly waving his two front flippers back and forth over his face.

"Fine Krillin! Just fine! How was saving the world? E-everything okay now?" He said all this very quickly, and Krillin raised an eyebrow at his strange behaviour.

"Uh, yeah, we made it back okay, as you see it." He paused. "Uh, is there something wrong Turtle? You seem a little different."

"What? No, no, nothing. Er, everything's just fine, things were er...very peaceful whilst you were gone!" Had it just been Krillin's imagination, or was Turtle actually blushing? He shrugged it off. Whatever it was, it was probably nothing to do with him.

"Well okay then. How's about that dinner guys?"

"Umm...I'm sorry to seem rude, but I might head off and find Tien now, I wanna see if he's okay."

"Yeah sure Chiaotsu, I'm sure he's really wanting to see you too. Go carefully though, it's getting dark out there."

"Thanks Krillin, I'll be fine."

Krillin went to the door to wave Chiaotsu off, and while his back was turned, Turtle, Master Roshi and Oolong exchanged meaningful looks. In an undertone, Oolong muttered, "Should we say anything about Maron visiting whilst he was gone?" Roshi and Turtle shook their heads.

"Not a word."

Krillin turned back around and the three conspirators gave a small, guilty jump.

"I'll get the rice!" Offered Oolong, and sped off into the kitchen.

"Ah, sounds great! I'm starving. How about I tell you the rest over dinner?" Krillin suggested, responding instantly to the thought of food and completely missing his friend's suspicious behaviour.

"Good idea." Said Roshi, and after he had surreptitiously slid one of his dirty magazines from under the low table to under the couch, they all sat down to eat while Oolong served.

***X*X*X***

Krillin was awake early the next morning. He was usually awake at the crack of dawn anyway, but had there not been something on, he would probably have slept for several hours more today. His every muscle seemed to be aching as he climbed out of his futon, and he could still feel a lingering tiredness from not yet sleeping enough after all his exertions of the Cell games. He did some easy stretches on the floor to loosen himself up a little and try to relieve the aches, then washed his face and went downstairs. Master Roshi was already awake and watching the dawn aerobics program on his huge wide screen TV with Oolong. The two of them were practicing the moves against the low table, and Krillin didn't stick around long enough to find out if Master Roshi's red face was from the exercise or the aerobics instructor's spandex outfit.

Outside the Kame House the air was still cool as the sun had not properly risen yet. It was the perfect time of day for training, without the midday heat to make him sweat over-much. Today however, Krillin was neither in top form nor did he have the time for a full run-through of his normal routine, so he only took himself through some basic breathing exercises, a little shadow boxing and a few patterns before heading back inside for breakfast.

It was not uncommon for Krillin to end up doing most of the cooking at the Kame House. This was partially because Master Roshi was still Krillin's master – though Krillin's skills had long since outstripped Roshi's – and as such Krillin still had the duties of a disciple. Mostly though, it was because Oolong and Master Roshi were extremely lazy people, and not especially good cooks, so if Krillin wanted to eat a decent meal, he usually had to cook it himself.

This morning however, as Krillin re-entered the house he noticed someone had very considerately put some rice on in the rice cooker, probably to try to take the pressure off him so he could recover. Krillin was able to quickly help himself to a bowl or two and some leftover fish from the night before. Master Roshi and Oolong had gone back upstairs to dress now that their aerobics program was over, so Krillin ate at the low table. They came back downstairs in their formal clothes just as Krillin was finishing.

'We're ready Krillin. Isn't it about time to go?' Krillin stood to hastily wash his bowl.

'Sure, I'll just get out of my gi and we can go. Get the plane ready for me, I'll be back down in a minute!' And he raced upstairs.

A few minutes later the three of them were speeding east towards the mainland in an old Capsule Corp plane with 'Kame' painted in wonky green letters on the side. Oolong was piloting, but Krillin was outside pushing the plane to give it a turbo boost, otherwise they'd never get there in time. He absently looked behind him at the island as they flew into the distance. He found himself remembering the times he'd spent with Maron on that island, those wonderful, awful summer days when he'd thought for just a little while that he might not be alone his entire life. He'd hardly been able to believe his luck that someone so beautiful would ever turn her head to him. It had felt like more than he deserved, and so he had never minded her faults, for when he was around her it was very difficult to see anything else, so powerful had her aura been. She was like a whirlwind; her presence was all-consuming and her absence left you exhausted and drained. He didn't want to linger too much on the day he'd decided to let her go; he'd never felt like more of a fool in his life. He'd thought at the time he'd made a huge mistake in breaking it off with her instead of marrying her, but even he couldn't deny the ease with which she'd washed her hands of him. It was utterly humiliating and heartbreaking, and he'd realised, sometime later once the devastating wake of the whirlwind had passed, that perhaps his relationship with her had not been entirely healthy. It was much easier to look at their parting of the ways more positively when he was not caught in her presence like a deer in headlights. Besides, those memories were just that now; memories. He was sure he'd moved on, as the thought of her face no longer stirred him like it once would have. All the memories of Maron's intimacies with him had been swept into oblivion by a simple, chaste kiss from a woman with hair like spun gold and eyes like the naked sky.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** References to Japanese culture:

Gi - Japanese name for a training outfit, usually used in karate. Krillin spends most of his time in canon wearing an orange gi with the Chinese symbol for 'turtle' on it, representing his training under Master Roshi, the turtle master.

Low Table - Much like a coffee table in western culture, but in Japan this often serves as the main dinner table, with people sitting on the floor or on cushions instead of seats. Modern versions have in-built heating elements to keep legs warm in winter.


	3. An Oath

**Summary: **What does a world-conquering android see in a short warrior whose skills nowhere near match her own? What could a man as humble as Krillin do to make his love reach her? How did they even find one another again? What about Android Seventeen? Everything you ever wanted to know about the androids, the seven year gap, and the love between Android Eighteen and Krillin.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Three - An Oath**

***X*X*X***

Things were at last peaceful at the top of Kami's lookout. The night sky was awash in silver, for the stars shone the most brightly up here, far away from the lights down on earth. Here in the open, it really did feel as though one were drifting through the heavens. Mr Popo and Dende were standing side by side, not saying a word, just taking in their last gazes of Earth aｔ peace again before they retired for the night. The air was cold, but Dende's heart felt so warmed from watching the people on Earth - loved ones reunited, people celebrating, people crying out their relief that everything was going to be okay - that he did not feeling the biting wind on his cheeks much at at all.

At length, Mr Popo turned to his new master.

"Hadn't we better go inside now Dende? It's getting very late." Dende gazed down from his lookout for a few moments longer before moving.

"Mmm. You're right Mr Popo, there's a lot of do tomorrow isn't there? Trying to fix the balance of things, not to mention repair this place." He said, gesturing at the cracked Grand Chambers. Then abruptly he found himself yawning. He hadn't realised how tired he was getting. Mr Popo put a gentle guiding hand on Dende's back and steered him towards his room. Halfway there, Dende stopped and looked over at the other end of the lookout. "Piccolo? Aren't you going to get some sleep? It's not so far off morning already." The adult Namekian meditating on the far side of the lookout opened one eye.

"Not just yet. You go ahead Dende, you need the rest. I'll get some sleep soon." He closed his eyes again, and listened to Dende's footsteps fade away. He relaxed back into a meditative state.

The next thing he knew he'd been kicked square in the lower back and pitched forward off the edge of the lookout. Scrambling in utter shock at being taken completely unawares he fell a good fifty metres before flying back up to the lookout at top speed. If this was a threat to Dende he didn't have a moment to lose. But a second shock quickly superseded his first one. It was Android Eighteen standing there. His first instinct was to prepare to fight, until he realised she was holding someone. Like a child almost, the limp body of Android Seventeen was carefully supported in Eighteen's arms. His stunned eyes met her determined ones and she spoke quickly.

"I need your help. Get that little guy who healed me from before, I need him to save Seventeen!" Piccolo saw now that behind that ferocity in her eyes was a thinly-veiled fear. Needing no further explanation, he rushed inside calling Dende. Moments later the two Namekians came rushing back out of the building, Mr Popo following closely behind.

"Please set him down!" said Dende earnestly, and Eighteen obliged. The smaller Namek knelt down beside Seventeen and spread his hands over the android's abdomen. Presently they began to glow a benign, white light. Eighteen leaned over, watching the whole process with a wild hope. The seconds passed far too slowly for her, as she waited for Seventeen to open his eyes again and laugh at her for having been worried. But the light in Dende's hands went out and he started frowning, and Eighteen felt her insides plummet.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. Dende looked up at her regretfully.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't heal him. He's dead."

"So how did you save me after I was spat out by Cell? Seventeen isn't dead. His organic body isn't working, but his cybernetic systems should still be in working order, there's still a chance to save him!" Dende looked like a terrified rabbit under her tirade. His face was becoming guiltier and more helpless as she spoke.

"Take it easy on Dende, Eighteen." Piccolo said, coming to the young Kami's rescue. "He was able to heal you because you were only unconscious. Seventeen is actually dead. Dende's powers are to heal the living, and even if Seventeen's systems are still working, he can't heal robotic matter, let alone use it make organic matter come back to life. He can't do anything for him." Eighteen instantly rounded on him.

"How can you say there's nothing you can do for him? You brought back millions of people by wishing on a dragon, you must be able to help my brother! You have to help him - "

"Why should we!" Piccolo returned sternly, taking Eighteen aback and derailing her anger. "Before you two were absorbed you only cared about murdering Goku; and just to play a game! Goku was a good friend to all of us, and never deserved to die. People on the highway were also killed in the fight between you and Vegeta, and you cared nothing for those human lives lost, or the damage you caused innocent civilians and their livelihood as you travelled around the country. You were lawless and dangerous to the entire Earth. Tell me, why should we help you? What will you do after all is said and done and the two of you are back on your feet?"

Clearly Piccolo was not to be pushed around easily. Eighteen stood stock still for a few moments, taking in his words.

"Fine," she said at last, upon seeing Piccolo's set expression, "What is it you want?"

"I want an oath." He said. "In exchange, I'll help you save your brother." She looked at him sceptically.

"You want me to swear an oath to you?"

"No. I want you to swear an oath to Dende, Guardian of all the Earth." He gestured over to the Namekian child, who looked rather befuddled at the notion of having oaths sworn to him. But then he took on a more serious air, realising that this was part of his responsibility for being Earth's Guardian, and he had to act the part. "Do we have a deal?" Piccolo pressed when Eighteen didn't reply. "I want you to swear that you will never again harm or kill another innocent person, neither will you destroy buildings or land of any kind, except in self-defence. Swear that you will live your life in peace, except to defend the innocent, and you will follow human laws. If you act recklessly again, Dende will tell us about it, and we will come and take you both down accordingly. Swear it." Eighteen paused a moment to consider it, then sighed. One look at her brother convinced her it was worth it, despite how belittling it was to be asked to behave as mere humans. She turned to Dende and got down on one knee, partially because it made for a more formal vow, but mostly because this was the only way she could get low enough to address him face to face.

"I swear, Dende Guardian of Earth, that if you and your friends help me save Android Seventeen's life I will never harm or kill an innocent again as long as I live. I will fight only in defence of the innocent. I will live by human laws, and as such be punishable by their justice." She stood again and turned to face Piccolo with a gaze so set it would have sent anyone of lesser fortitude quavering.

"I'll get that same oath from your brother when he's able to speak, or else despite your oath we'll still stop him recovering." Eighteen's expression did not change.

"Now help my brother." Piccolo nodded and grunted his approval.

"Alright then. Pick him up again, there's nothing more we can do for him here." Eighteen did so quickly and carefully, and turned to face Piccolo again.

"Where are we going?"

"To the only person who might still be able to bring your brother back. We need someone with the sort of skills Dr Gero had."

"And where are we going to find someone with that sort of expertise?" Eighteen asked dryly, grudgingly admitting to herself that there were few out there who could possibly have matched Dr Gero's technology. But Piccolo smirked.

"Capsule Corporation Headquarters." He replied, and in the next second he had taken off and was speeding down the tower, not even looking to see if she was following. Without a backwards glance, Eighteen set off after him.

***X*X*X***

Within about twenty minutes the Kame Plane had reached the mainland. After landing and disembarking, Master Roshi returned the plane into its capsule and trudged up the beach with the others to a nearby road. Here, Krillin took out a capsule of his own and threw it onto the ground. A puff of smoke later Capsule Corps' answer to the Ferrari was waiting patiently for its owner. Krillin would have liked very much to have had a genuine Ferrari instead, but with his living arrangements, a car he couldn't pack up and take with him just wasn't practical. Though he had lived and worked fairly close to West City for a while when he was living with Maron, he had still spent a lot of time at the Kame House, taking care of Master Roshi and training in preparation for the coming of the androids.

They all clambered into Krillin's car, and set off on the highway to West City. Krillin made sure they were all safely in the back seat, as he couldn't trust the other two to keep their hands to themselves when there were so many fancy controls to look at in the front. It had taken Krillin quite some time to work them all out himself, but he had been so proud once he had. He'd looked rather suave with his white suit, curvaceous girl and sexy car. But having all those things hadn't really changed who he was underneath, and he'd always known that suave just wasn't something he could pull off, though he'd certainly tried. Leave all that up to the sort of guys Maron usually fancied, he decided. It wasn't for him. He was back in his casual clothes, without bothering too much about how he looked. Once he didn't have a girl on his arm to show off for, he'd found himself relaxing into old routines as well as enjoying his car for its own value.

Oolong and Master Roshi were quite impressed about finally having an opportunity to have a ride in it too, and jeered him into speeding all the way to West City. Krillin decided to indulge his friends a few times, as it was the day after the defeat of Cell, and the chances of any police finding the time to patrol the highways (as opposed to damage control) were slim to nil. Occasionally he would rev the engine and step on the accelerator down a long, empty stretch of road. Once, just to show off, he pulled a wheelie around a hairpin corner going down a mountain road, which had Master Roshi and Oolong screeching in their seats and grabbing onto whatever they could reach. Krillin chuckled - it was going to be a good day.

An hour and a half later they turned off the highway and his passengers were finally calming down. Krillin was just navigating his way through the West City suburbs when Master Roshi crossed his arms, lowered his head and suddenly turned thoughtful.

"You know Krillin, now that this whole mess is over, you should really consider settling down with someone." Krillin turned around in his seat to stare at his master, blushing madly.

"Say what?" Fortunately they were at a traffic light at the time, and didn't crash into anything.

"Watch the road!" Master Roshi yelled back, completely unravelling his well-practiced pose. Krillin turned back around in time to see that the light had turned green whilst he wasn't looking. He quickly took off to the sounds of beeping horns from cars behind him, then glanced at Master Roshi in the rear-view mirror to see him posing again, with considerably less dramatic effect than before.

"But yes. The Earth should be safe now that Cell's been defeated, so you don't need to spend all your time training. Most of your friends are married with children now, so maybe you should think about getting around to doing the same." Krillin kept his eyes firmly on the road, hoping very much that his passengers couldn't see how deeply he was blushing. Surely his master wouldn't be so encouraging if he knew that the person Krillin had in mind to marry and settle down with wasn't really a person at all? He wondered how they'd react to seeing him side by side with the very android they'd all spent three years training to defeat. Even so, those images were like a far off fantasy to him, a pleasant dream in the best of all possible worlds. It seemed so unrealistic, even the idea that she might like him seemed absurd, but he couldn't help but nurture a secret hope that it might happen someday. He was so lost in these private thoughts that he completely missed the very meaningful looks that Oolong was giving Master Roshi in the back seat.

Eventually, to break the awkward silence, Master Roshi gave a small cough into his fist.

"Otherwise you could end up a bachelor... just like me!" He finished exultantly, and Krillin jerked forward in his seat in a gesture of incredulousness. Suddenly he saw an image of himself, old and wrinkled like Master Roshi, sitting beside his master on the Kame House beach, reading identical dirty magazines, and getting up early to watch the dawn aerobics shows together just to perv on the instructor. He laughed at the notion good-naturedly.

"Well let's just hope that doesn't happen!" And on this note they finally pulled up the drive to Bulma's place.


	4. Farewells and Reunions

**Summary: **A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Four - Farewells & Reunions**

***X*X*X***

Gohan, Yamcha, Puar, Bulma, Vegeta and Mr and Mrs Briefs were already out on the front lawn. Bulma was waving as they slowed to a stop and got out.

"Hey Krillin, glad you could make it!" She said happily. Krillin grinned back at her. The whole atmosphere was lighter, almost celebratory amongst his friends, all of whom had seen the recent terror through together. It was infectious.

"Wouldn't miss it Bulma!" He returned.

"Hey Krillin!" Gohan and Yamcha were also grinning and waving at him as they approached.

"Hey guys! Looks like you all got a good rest then." They both nodded. "Lookin' good in that suit Gohan."

"Yeah," Gohan grinned. "Mom made me wear it. I think she's going to be okay too. She's getting started on getting the house back to normal right now."

"That's Chi Chi for you." Krillin replied. He could just imagine Chi Chi grumbling to herself about men being so destructive while she went about keeping herself busy cleaning up the mess they'd made. Well, technically it had been Cell who had sent the earth shaking and half-uprooted her house, but Chi Chi had never cared much for technicalities.

A few moments later, Trunks emerged from the front door to Bulma's place, back in his casual clothes and hair cut to just past his ears again. He looked much better than he had the day before, but given that he'd been dead, this was not surprising. He made his way first over to Mr and Mrs Briefs, and though Krillin couldn't hear exactly what was being said, he could tell it was a warm goodbye. He watched as Trunks leaned over to get one last look at baby Trunks in Mrs Brief's arms. He reached a hand over to him, and it was a strange moment when the child reached back and grasped Trunk's finger in his tiny fist. The look in adult Trunk's eyes was unfathomable as he gazed down at his own infant self, but then baby Trunks let go of him and the moment passed as though it had never happened.

Trunks turned to face everyone who had come to wish him farewell, and smiled graciously. "Thanks a lot for coming out here today guys, it means a lot to me. I'm really gonna miss you all."

"Hey man, no problem." Said Yamcha. "We owe you big time for coming to help us through all this. We could never have done it without you coming to warn us. This is the least we can do."

"Yeah," Trunks nodded. "Now at least we know you all have a much better future to look forward to. It's changed so much even I couldn't tell you what's going to happen from here. Anything is possible. Good luck guys. It's been really great getting to know all of you." At this last comment, Trunks' eyes met his father's for a moment.

Bulma pulled him into a brief hug and then drew back, holding Trunks' hand in both of hers.

"I'm really proud of you son." She said with a mother's sincerity.

"Thanks mom."

"Be careful."

"Right." Trunks then took a few steps forward, and turned toward Vegeta.

"Dad." He acknowledged, and Vegeta held up his first two fingers on his left hand, a gesture which Trunks returned, but not a word was spoken. Then, facing everyone else he said, 'Well, goodbye guys." and got into his time machine. It powered up flawlessly and began to take off, rustling the grass on the lawn. "So long!' Trunks called from inside the glass dome, and waved down at everyone.

"Love you Trunks, goodbye!" Bulma called, waving back.

"Bye Trunks, you're the greatest!" cried Gohan.

"Bye Gohan!" Came Trunks' reply.

"Later dude!"

"Bye Trunks!" Called Yamcha and Krillin.

"See ya guys!" Trunks said at last, and then his time machine was too far away to hear anymore. Everyone watched it fade into the distance a little while longer, and whilst it was sad to see him go, it didn't feel like so much like an ending. It was like Gohan had said the day before as they'd parted ways - this was the beginning of the rest of their lives. Who knew what Trunks would grow up to be like in this time line, now they were all alive and well to see it?

When Krillin brought his gaze back down, Gohan seemed to be staring at something behind them. Though Krillin turned his gaze to the direction Gohan was looking, there was nothing there. Whatever it was, he couldn't see what his friend could see. At length, Gohan turned back to Krillin, smiling.

"Father." Was all he said, but Krillin understood.

***X*X*X***

It was a good start to the day - refreshing and peaceful, but Trunks' farewell seemed to be over far too quickly. The moment he was out of sight and his ki signal had disappeared, Vegeta stalked off into the building, scowling more prominently than usual. Everyone looked round at him as he passed, but no one dared to speak until he was safely inside.

"Where's he going?" Asked Gohan, looking a bit concerned. He turned to Bulma, who had dried the few tears on her face, and wore a soft smile as she watched Vegeta go.

"Probably back to the gravity room to start training again, don't worry about him." She said dismissively. Krillin was surprised at how little Vegeta's mood seemed to bother her, but then he supposed that if she'd lived with him long enough to have a child with him, she must have developed some kind of resistance to the raging black cloud that seemed to follow Vegeta wherever he went. Krillin unashamedly admired Bulma's emotional fortitude.

The only other person who seemed to be completely oblivious to Vegeta's black aura, Mrs Briefs, walked over to Bulma and sighed happily.

"Now finally, Little Trunks can have his mommy back!" She said, giving the infant back over to her daughter. Little Trunks made happy babbling noises at his mother, who proceeded to make funny faces back at him. "Hey honey, now that Big Trunks has gone home, why don't we let your little friends stay for lunch?" Mrs Briefs suggested. Bulma looked up from her crossed eyes and oddly contorted tongue.

"That's a good idea Mom." She turned to face the gathered Z fighters. "So how about it, guys? Want to stay for a bite? Seeing as you all came quite a long way and all."

"Sure, if you don't mind, Mrs Briefs." Said Yamcha, and the others nodded as well.

***X*X*X***

Half an hour later saw everyone in the courtyard, relaxing and feasting on sandwiches, sausages and rice balls. Whilst Mrs Briefs was a western woman through and through, she had always prided herself on her cooking and hospitality for all her guests. So when Bulma had started bringing home lots of friends from the eastern part of the continent, she had made a special effort to learn cuisine which would make them feel more at home, and had now made rice balls one of her specialties.

Vegeta made no appearance, but Bulma didn't seem worried. Early on she went to drop off some food for him outside the gravity room before re-joining the party. Yamcha was just talking up his own part in the fight against Cell to impress Mrs Briefs when the doors of the courtyard burst open, and Piccolo came crashing in.

The greater shock occurred a moment later, and Krillin's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when Piccolo was followed inside by none other than Android Eighteen. He did a double take and rubbed his eyes. He felt the whoosh of air as she strode right past him. _Nope, not seeing things._ A moment later his eyes traveled downward and he saw that Eighteen's twin brother lay limp in her arms. Eighteen herself had an angry, driven look on her face, but it was Piccolo who spoke first.

"Bulma! We need your help!" He practically roared. Bulma was at their side in a moment.

"What's going on Piccolo?" her eyes flickered onto the body Eighteen was holding and widened in shock. "Is that...?"

"This is Android Seventeen, and he needs your help." Eighteen cut across her sharply. "Save my brother." The way she glared at Bulma reminded Krillin a great deal of Vegeta, and his first thought was that she'd picked the wrong woman to try to bully. Ignoring Eighteen, Bulma glanced at Piccolo, who nodded wordlessly, and only then Bulma did comply.

"Dad!" She called, and gesturing for Eighteen and Piccolo to follow, ran out of the courtyard towards the labs.

"Right!" Called Dr Briefs, and he immediately followed his daughter behind the two androids and the alien. Krillin, Gohan, and the rest of the party-goers gaped open-mouthed at the door through which they had disappeared. They looked at each other, dumbfounded expressions mirrored on every face in the room, and a moment later rushed after Bulma as well.

Only Mrs Briefs remained in the courtyard. She put one hand to her cheek and pouted.

"I guess that means no one's going to want seconds of the potato salad?" She asked to no one.

***X*X*X***

Krillin's brain was going a million miles an hour. _What was she doing here? What had happened to Android Seventeen? And why did Eighteen need Bulma's help? For that matter, how did Piccolo get involved? _He was worried. He could tell something was badly wrong, and he pushed especially fast through the many corridors of Capsule Corp Headquarters to catch up. Shortly he found them again in the lab which, though Krillin didn't realise, was the same one in which Bulma had designed the controller to shut down the androids. Bulma and Mr Briefs had called in several assistants, both robotic and human, all of whom were racing about the place trying to put things in order. Bulma was in her element.

"Lay him down there." She said to Eighteen, gesturing at a stainless steel workbench. Eighteen did so, and Bulma felt for a pulse. Even before she realised there wasn't one, she was calling, "Maguro! Ika! Get the emergency equipment we used to treat Vegeta, right now!" to two of her assistants. "Katsuo, a surgical kit!" She directed to another. All went running off in different directions at top speed, as her robotic assistants began to sterilize the various tools that might be needed, and they still had no idea exactly what needed to be done.

"Please! Tell me if I can help!" Called Krillin, feeling useless in the back corner even as he did so. They all turned to look at him, only just realising in all the commotion that he was there.

"I need to find out what's wrong first Krillin, I'll let you know if you can do anything." Replied Bulma, not unkindly. She turned to Eighteen. "Now while we're preparing, tell me what happened." At that moment the rest of the Z fighters caught up and waited in the doorway, looking in. Bulma quickly shooed them all away, except for Krillin. "Wait in the conference room next door guys!"

As soon as they were gone, Eighteen, gazing down at her brother's body, started to speak.

"When I found Seventeen he was already biologically dead, he had been for hours. But he has emergency cybernetic neurons in his brain, if you -"

"Program them correctly they'll restart his biological systems!" Bulma finished for her, looking exhilarated at the prospect. Eighteen looked at her sharply.

"How can you know that?" She demanded, but Bulma's assistant had reappeared with a full operating table and the equipment necessary for surgery.

"We don't have time for that!" Bulma replied, washing her hands thoroughly and putting on surgical gloves. "You can ask Krillin later. I just need to know one more thing - how did he die?" Eighteen did not retort to Bulma's refusal to answer her, too much was at stake for her to argue.

"He drowned."

"Okay, thanks. You'll need to go now."

"What?"

Bulma looked at her very directly. "This isn't going to be pretty, and it isn't something I want an audience for."

"I'm not going anywhere, this is my twin brother!" Eighteen replied hotly.

"Gohan!" Bulma yelled. Moments later Gohan appeared, looking alarmed.

"What is it Bulma?" He asked nervously. Bulma was sterilising equipment and didn't lift her head.

"Get Android Eighteen out of here; I don't want her watching this." Gohan looked helplessly from Bulma to Eighteen, who didn't look at all like she was going to be moved. For a moment it looked like Gohan was going to have to fight to get Eighteen out, and no one was looking forward to it.

The next thing any of them knew Krillin had rushed forward and gently took Eighteen's hand. She looked down at him, and her panic reminded him very much of a cornered animal. He squeezed her hand a little in his.

"It's okay Eighteen. I know how worried you must be, but Bulma's a genius, and there's no one in the world who could help Seventeen more than she could. Please trust her. Everything will be alright, you just have to let her do what she needs to do." She just stared at him, and it was almost like seeing a light go out of her eyes. Her head turned slowly back towards her brother, and Krillin felt the resistance leave her body. She was totally unresponsive to the contact of Krillin's hand, but at least she was no longer fighting. Slowly, gently, and to everyone's astonishment, Krillin lead her by the hand out of the room.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** A note on names. Bulma's assistants all keep in with the running DBZ theme of naming characters after foods. In this case, they are named after types of sushi. Maguro is raw tuna, Ika is squid, and Katsuo is bonito.

Also, that final dialogue with Future Trunks is taken directly from the last episode of the Cell Saga, so I don't take credit for that, I'm just keeping the story canon compliant.

Please review and tell me what you thought!


	5. The Truth About Cell

**Summary: **A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Five - The Truth About Cell**

***X*X*X***

A good long moment after Krillin and Eighteen had disappeared, Gohan, Piccolo and Bulma just stared after them. Not one of them could figure out how Krillin had managed to avert a disaster that even Gohan, the strongest boy in the universe, couldn't have done as smoothly. "Uh yeah, well thanks anyway Gohan." Bulma said finally. "Would you mind waiting outside again? Thanks."

"Oh! Right Bulma." He too forced himself out of his stupor and quickly departed, dodging around Bulma's frantically working assistants as he did so.

"Do what you can for him, Bulma." Rumbled Piccolo as he started to leave too.

"Just a minute."

He stopped and turned around. Bulma faced him with a very advanced neural scanner in one hand and a set expression on her face. "I know the who and the how, but I still don't know the why. I'm sure you'll tell me the full story later, but just before you ask me to save the life of an android whom we just spent three years preparing to kill, who killed _Vegeta_ in Trunks' time, tell me why I'm doing this." He hesitated, but knew there was no point in lying about it. He could trust Bulma with this.

"I made Eighteen vow that if I helped her, she would live by human laws and live in peace. If Seventeen can't be revived, that vow is void, and we have no guarantee that she is safe without killing her." Bulma was surprised by his answer.

"But you could have just had her killed and eliminated the threat entirely. That seems uncharacteristically trusting of you."

Piccolo nodded. "If she does break it, she's also acknowledged that we'll be sending Gohan after her to remind her where she stands, or kill her if it comes to that. I'll come and do the same to Seventeen...if or when he wakes up." He turned back towards the door. One hand on the door frame however, he hesitated and half turned back. He didn't look her, or at anything in particular. Sighing, he finally finished with, "Besides, it's what Goku would have done."

***X*X*X***

Eighteen felt numb, weak and exhausted. She had flown all day and all night on a desperate adrenaline, strained to the breaking point trying to find a way to save her brother. Now it had sunk in that there was nothing more she could do for him, and the rest was up to someone else. It was difficult to have to concede power over to another person, after she and Seventeen had worked so hard to be under their own control. They could never have foreseen the way things ended up turning out. Now that she had nothing to do, it was like her body suddenly remembered it had nothing left.

She was dimly aware of a warm hand leading her on, right now her only anchor to her conscious mind. They wandered down corridors and turned corners she forgot as soon as they were passed, and only realised they had climbed many flights of stairs when she found herself on the rooftop of Capsule Corp. But always there was that gentle, guiding hand. It did not pull or demand anything of her, it simply walked her on and gave her somewhere left to go.

At length, she found there was a bench in front of her, and she collapsed on it. The hand had stopped guiding her now, so she sat, and let go of it. Her shoulders and her head slumped forward, so she was looking at the concrete below her.

"I thought you might like to rest somewhere out of the way." Came a voice from beside her. She turned her head towards it, both vaguely surprised and at the same time undisturbed to find Krillin sitting next to her, smiling nervously. For several long moments neither of them spoke. Eventually she realised he was waiting for her to lead the conversation in whichever direction she chose. She considered what to say. There were so many things she didn't yet understand. She had no idea how she was even alive, let alone how Gohan had managed to beat Cell after she had been absorbed. For that matter, who the heck was Cell? The sheer wall of all the things she wanted to know loomed so high and so frustrating she barely knew where to begin. But then she thought back to the reason she had come here in the first place.

"This Bulma, who is she? And how does she know how to fix Seventeen? Was she an associate of Dr Gero at one time?" Krillin leaned back on the bench, his arms supporting him from behind as he looked up at the sky.

"Well, it's a pretty long story, and I guess there's a lot to bring you up to date on. But no, Bulma was never associated with Dr Gero. We've been old friends from way back, since we were kids. She's the sole heir of all of Capsule Corporation."

"Why is she your friend? She can't possibly be a fighter with a power level like hers. She's just another ordinary human." She said with disdain.

Krillin seemed annoyed at that. "That 'ordinary human' is the reason I was able to nearly shut you down in the first place!" Krillin halted as soon as he'd said it, clearly regretting his words. He blushed in shame at the same time as Eighteen demanded,

"What do you mean by that?" She stared at him unbelieving, but Krillin was looking at the ground, unable to meet her eyes.

"After we found out about Cell, Trunks and I broke into the basement of Dr Gero's lab to destroy him in this timeline. We were just lucky. While we were there, we also discovered the blueprints for Android Seventeen. Then we blew up the lab and passed them on to Bulma. That's how she was able to make the controller to shut you down, and that's why she's the only one who can save him now."

A heavy silence descended. At length, she sighed resignedly.

"That's right, you were there to kill me that day. So why bother to try to help us now? I assume you would have gone after Seventeen as well if he hadn't already been absorbed." There was a definite acidic touch to her words now.

Krillin frowned indignantly at her. "I had to do something, don't you see? You were after Goku, who happens to be my best friend along with the world's best chance for survival." He sighed and hung his head. "Not that it mattered much in the end, we lost him anyway."

Eighteen just watched him, and had Krillin been looking back at her he would have seen her expression soften perceptibly. She offered no words, but let him have his moment of memorial silence.

"Anyway, by that time protecting Goku was the least of our worries. Cell was on the loose, Seventeen had just been absorbed and it was only a matter of time before he got you too. The idea was that if I could find you first, I could shut you down without having to fight you, and destroy you before Cell ever got the chance to become complete." Once again there was a long moment.

"Then it doesn't make sense the trouble you and your friends are going through to help us. In fact, why _did _you destroy the controller that d -"

Krillin cut her off, waving his arms in front of his face distractingly. "Uh, hey look! How about I just try and explain it from the beginning?" He blathered, his voice becoming much higher in his apparent nervousness.

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then rested her head in the palm of her hand. "Fine."

Krillin appeared to relax again, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Let's see then... you could say this really started a good three years ago. I guess you wouldn't know about Trunks, but he was the son of Bulma and Vegeta. Bulma from about twenty years in the future created a time machine, in which she sent her son back here to send us a warning. About you." Eighteen looked stupefied.

"But how?"

"Well you see, he had come from a very dark future, in which Androids Seventeen and Eighteen were destroying the world. Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha and I had all been killed by them."

"I...killed you?" The tone in her voice was disbelieving, but Krillin didn't look at her.

"They killed me and as many other humans as possible. The ones remaining were refugees. Trunks spent his entire life in hiding. Gohan was his mentor until he was also eventually killed fighting the androids. Trunks believed the reason the future came to pass this way was because Goku hadn't been able to fight at the time Seventeen and Eighteen awoke. Goku has always been saving the earth from threats like that, but that one time he couldn't fight."

"Why was that?"

"Because he had caught a rare, new heart virus. No one at the time had a cure for it, so Goku died before he ever had a chance to fight. By the time Trunks grew up, an antidote had been found, so he decided to try to save the earth by going back in time and saving Goku. His mother gave him the time machine, and he brought the antidote to Goku, and the warning to prepare for your coming. We've been training all that time in the hope to avoid the desolate future Trunks had predicted."

Eighteen gaped, scarcely believing what she was hearing. "Seventeen and I... we really did all that?"

Krillin looked thoughtful. "It's funny that. I spent three years anticipating these two monsters who were perfect, mindless killers. When I first saw you two come out of that lab and kill Dr Gero, I was terrified of you. In an hour the two of you had single-handedly rendered all our training useless. But something was different. You were not what Trunks had predicted. When you fought us outside Dr Gero's lab, you left everyone incapacitated, but you left us alive. I didn't try to fight you, and you didn't hurt me at all. Some part of me realised from that moment that we weren't dealing with the same two androids. Something changed between this world and Trunks', and I honestly believe that you're not the same people as the ones who destroyed Trunks' future."

Eighteen sighed, got up and paced restlessly, then stretched out her arms with her fingers linked, and asked,

"Okay, so I know how you all knew about us, and I know how you got that controller. Now who was Cell?"

"Cell was another experiment of Dr Gero. The difference was, Cell was created from scratch, completely biological. He was Dr Gero's ultimate android. He grew like an insect and evolved into the form you first saw him in before he absorbed Seventeen. His full purpose in life was to absorb the two of you, which would render him into the single strongest being in the universe. It gets a bit confusing from there though. You see, around now, Cell should still only be about the size of a tennis ball, because he takes a long time to mature. When Trunks and I raided Dr Gero's lab and got those blueprints, we discovered and destroyed Cell whilst he was still in a test tube. The fully-grown Cell that came after you was actually from another timeline. I think that means Cell actually created a third parallel timeline, because after Trunks left us, he defeated Androids Seventeen and Eighteen. That meant when Cell finally emerged in that time there were no androids for him to absorb. When he discovered what had happened, he went after Trunks and killed him to steal the time machine. But...seeing as Trunks was still here when Cell arrived in the stolen time machine, Trunks is gonna go back this time and destroy Cell in his time before Cell ever has a chance to come after him again." At this, he spun two fingers around each other and looked up and to the left, a little confused with his own explanation. Eighteen started tapping her foot, irritated with the complexity of it all.

"Er, right." Krillin continued, taking the hint. "So I guess we pick up after you got absorbed. Vegeta got beaten pretty badly, and Trunks was nearly out for the count when Cell proposed a tournament: all the greatest fighters on earth against him. He called it, 'The Cell Games'. It gave us all a chance for respite and to train up and prepare once more. We brought Android Sixteen here during the period he gave us, and Dr Briefs – Bulma's father – repaired him after the damage he sustained protecting you."

"Sixteen was here?"

Krillin nodded. "Admittedly, Trunks was all for finishing him off, but I just didn't think the big guy deserved that. He was pretty scary when he fought Cell, but the rest of the time he was so gentle."

"You do know that he was created for the sole purpose of killing Goku?"

"Well yes," He said mildly. "but he never ended up meeting Goku until the Cell Games, and by then he'd decided not to, out of principle I guess. So he was with us nine days later when we fought Cell-"

"Wait a minute, you mean Seventeen and I were inside that thing for _nine days_?" Eighteen was horrified, revulsion at the memories rose like a river in the flood rains, and she found herself up and pacing around again, scratching at her arms as if that would get rid of the imprint of the monster. Krillin kept sitting, looking lost at her antagonised behaviour. At length, she sat down again, slumped so far over her head was almost on her knees. "Go on." She said finally.

"There's not really too much left to tell you. Goku fought Cell first, but couldn't beat him, so he brought Gohan up to fight instead. But Gohan is a lot like Sixteen - he doesn't like to fight. He tried for a long time to hold off, and Cell goaded him on and on. Goku kept telling us not to interfere, so the only one who tried to help Gohan was Sixteen." Eighteen stirred and felt her insides twist in dread, but waited to hear the rest. "He had Cell in a lock from behind and was going to self-destruct to take Cell with him, and Cell really thought it would work. Unfortunately he didn't realise that Bulma and Dr Briefs had removed the self-destruct bomb from inside him during his repairs. Cell blasted him to pieces."

Eighteen had her hair clenched painfully in her fist. "No." It came out almost as a whisper. "He was destroyed?" Krillin was careful with his words.

"His head was still intact, and we might still have been able to repair him again, but things took another turn for the worse. Cell was so eager to bring out Gohan's power that he created 'children' of himself to come and attack the rest of us. We all got pummelled pretty badly, but it still didn't make Gohan tick over. It was only when Sixteen's head was somehow thrown back into our midst that the tide turned. He spoke to Gohan last of all, to tell him it was okay to let go and fight to protect his friends. Then...Cell crushed his head." Krillin looked over at her, eyes full of pity. "I'm really sorry Eighteen. I know he was a good friend of yours." He reached out a hand to put it comfortingly on her back, but she shrugged it off. Sixteen was dead, and she did not want to be touched. Krillin continued with his story.

"It was only because of him that Gohan was able to reach his full potential. He gained powers like none of us have ever seen, and completely overwhelmed Cell. He rescued us by destroying the 'children', and punched him so hard in the gut that he spewed you back out! It's really thanks to Gohan that you're okay." Eighteen made a face, feeling a little revolted that she had just been described as vomit. Krillin was apparently unaware of his tactlessness.

"After that though, Cell was desperate enough to threaten to blow himself up to destroy the earth. I guess Dr Gero intended for all of his androids to be able to self-destruct. Goku had to use his instant transmission to take Cell to another planet just in the nick of time, to stop him blowing up here." Now it was Krillin's turn to pause sombrely again. "The thing was, Cell absorbed an ability from Piccolo that meant that if even one cell of his being was left alive, he could regenerate back again. His self-destruction technique left that one cell alive, so he still came back to earth again, stronger than ever. As he came back down here from space, the energy was so strong even you cried out in your sleep. A blast out of the sky came down and shot Trunks straight through the chest, and killed him instantly. That was how Cell revealed himself. After the death of his son, Vegeta just went crazy and attacked Cell with everything he had, but it wasn't enough. Gohan managed to protect Vegeta from Cell's counter attack, but it weakened him to do it. It took a final showdown from all of us to finally take the monster down. Gohan battled Cell's ki blast with a kamehameha, and the rest of us blasted him from behind to weaken and distract him. It took everything we had combined to give Gohan the chance he needed, but we just got it, and Gohan blew Cell into oblivion."

The sentence had definite finality to it, and Eighteen found herself in silent respect for what everyone had gone through to save this planet. She was just about to ask him about the dragon and Kami's Lookout when a small, levitating robot bearing the Capsule Corp logo appeared on the roof and floated towards them. As it approached, a mechanical voice issued from a speaker underneath its optical sensors.

"We request that you kindly return to lab 20. Dr Briefs and Miss Briefs have requested your presence."

Eighteen's head snapped up as if she'd just woken from a dream. She and Krillin glanced quickly at each other.

"Seventeen!"

***X*X*X***


	6. Girls and Z Fighters

**Summary: **A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Six - Girls and Z Fighters**

***X*X*X***

Eighteen and Krillin didn't wait for the robot to say anything else, but rushed back into the building and back down the stairs. Krillin led the way through the winding corridors as Eighteen had not felt entirely lucid on the way up, and couldn't remember the way back. It had taken them nearly ten minutes to slowly work their way to up the roof; getting back down took them less than one.

They practically crashed through the doors to Lab 20, where they found Bulma and Dr Briefs taking off their surgical robes and gloves, and assistants were busy cleaning and packing away tools. Her brother however, was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Seventeen?!" Eighteen demanded at once, both angry and panicked, her flickering eyes taking in every detail of the room as though trying to find him hidden in a corner somewhere. Bulma raised her hands up to her face in a non-threatening gesture and with a reassuring smile on her face.

"He's resting in a guest bedroom Eighteen, please don't worry. He's going to be okay." She sighed heavily, and Eighteen realised she looked extremely stressed out. Dr Briefs put his hands on his daughter's shoulders comfortingly, and looked up at Eighteen.

"It was a very difficult operation, dealing with mechanics that intricate, but we've managed to get him back online. He's breathing again, and we've pumped the water out of his lungs. He'll still take a while to recover, and he won't be waking up anytime soon. Bulma did a great job of saving him. Much longer and he wouldn't have had a hope." Eighteen said nothing, just closed her eyes for a moment, and breathed.

"Where is he?" She asked when she opened them again. Bulma held herself up straight again.

"I'll take you to his room, come with me." She handed her surgical robes to an assistant and walked out of the lab with Eighteen in tow. Krillin looked from Dr Briefs to the retreating back of Eighteen, then hurried after her. Bulma led them down the corridor and to the right, back towards the courtyard, but instead of continuing that way she stopped outside one of the doors on the left. Bulma's hand was on the doorknob, but she appraised Eighteen once more before she turned it. "Seventeen is stable now, but if you upset him while he's sleeping or somehow try to wake him up to talk to you, it could damage his brain permanently, as it hasn't had the time to heal over where we just cut it open. So please be careful." Eighteen nodded, and Bulma stepped into the room.

Seventeen was outfitted with a human support system. His mechanical systems would take care of themselves she knew, but it seemed incredibly demeaning that her invincible brother, who believed himself the strongest being in the universe, would be bound to a human hospital bed, complete with drip and oxygen mask. It was pathetic. Her expression must have betrayed her on this, because Krillin looked like he was about to reach out to her when Bulma shook her head at him. Wordlessly, the two of them took their leave, allowing her to think in peace.

Looking at him now she was reminded sharply of the first time they'd been activated by Dr Gero. To 'test their abilities', he had said. They had been 'born' knowing they were brother and sister, built from the ground up in the same design, and perhaps their human components had once stemmed from the same cell samples too. Long before they had ever said a word, they had understood one another perfectly.

Along with their ingrained knowledge of what they were, and that they were brother and sister, they knew that their role was to obey. This was in their programming. A tactical blunder on Dr Gero's part perhaps, was that they also had personalities and wills of their own. They did not like the idea of being the Doctor's toys for revenge and domination. They were given an assignment almost as soon as they'd been activated.

Whilst she could remember landing in a heavily populated city, she could not recall much of what the actual assignment had been about. Probably it just hadn't been important enough to her. She remembered later sending a ki-blast at the Doctor, a twin blast partnering it from Seventeen, and Dr Gero dodging to the side. He'd cursed and sent his robots after them. At the time Eighteen had thought laughingly that the Doctor actually expected them to be hurt by those junk heaps, but a second too late realised they were just a distraction. The last thing she remembered was Dr Gero pointing a small controller at her, and a red button being pushed. _Of course, _Eighteen remembered thinking foolishly as she'd fallen to the ground. _Of course he'd keep an emergency shutdown system._ The only other thing she remembered before she was shut down again was the frustration of being thwarted, and becoming helpless again.

She'd hoped she'd never have to deal with that again after their next activation had led to their successful rebellion, but apparently fortune did not favour the bold as far as she and Seventeen were concerned. First they'd been absorbed by Cell, then they'd owed their lives to the same people who had been trying to kill them. Now she was healthy whilst Seventeen was helpless in the enemy stronghold, and she was buying his life with her promise to do as she was told.

Nonetheless, she could feel an incredible weight lifted off her shoulders. At least now she knew that her brother was going to make it. Just over a week ago the two of them had been fighting for their lives and had lost every trace of themselves in their defeat. Compared to how horrifying their fate had seemed not so long ago, this was far more than she ever could have wished for, and part of her was grateful for that. Just seeing her brother's chest rising and falling was a balm, after all the panic she had been going through for the last two days.

She remembered feeling completely lost in that lab room, like she was about to lose her brother and no one would let her stay to stop it happening. Of course, if he had died, there would have been nothing she could have done about it, but being ripped away from him like that was like losing her purpose. Then Krillin had touched her hand, and in that moment given her a connection to something. He had told her it would be alright, and taken her away from it all gently. She found herself remembering as well his kindness, and how he had just let her have a little while away from it all, answering all the questions she had to ask and not demanding anything of her in return. She felt warm at the memory, and despite herself, she smiled.

***X*X*X***

Krillin and Bulma had been silent all the way down the corridor, in case they had disturbed Eighteen or her comatose brother. Once they'd rounded the corner however, both sighed heavily, then grinned at their identical reactions.

"I guess androids sure are a lot of work, even when you're not fighting them." Bulma remarked, and Krillin laughed.

"You're not wrong."

Presently they arrived in the conference room, where all the Z fighters were arrayed in various positions of relaxation around a large, mahogany table with matching chairs. Oolong, Yamcha, Master Roshi and Mrs Briefs were chatting away animatedly and pigging out on the last of the sandwiches and potato salad, which Mrs Briefs had been kind enough to bring in for them during the long wait. Piccolo stood stoically behind their chairs, and Gohan was leaning over the back of his to talk to him.

All conversation stopped the moment Krillin and Bulma entered the room. A moment later, Yamcha stood up with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey hey! Krillin my man! Nice work on the chic dude! Sounds like you've already got it figured out." He winked at him. "You dog." Krillin shot a flat, sideways look at Gohan, who smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Krilllin, but everyone was wondering where you were. You _were _with her the whole time, weren't you?" Gohan was blushing furiously. Dear Kami, Gohan and puberty. Krillin could only imagine where that would end up. Yamcha sidled over to Krillin, a sly look on his face.

"Although actually, we're still wondering. Where DID you go?" He asked in a far too knowing manner. "You two were alone together for a really long time, what did you get up to?" He was up so close to Krillin's face looking for a reaction that naturally, Krillin gave him one. Master Roshi jumped up in delight as Krillin's face turned beet red.

"Heehaw! That's M'boy! I know I told you to go and find yourself a girl, but I didn't know my influence was so strong on you that you'd do it so soon!" He was practically dancing around the room, but Bulma was glaring at the old man with her arms folded.

"Are you sure you're just happy for Krillin's sake?" She asked half-disgustedly. Master Roshi feigned seriousness - so badly that even Krillin could see right through it - coughed into his fist to add to the effect, and his sunglasses glinted as he gazed round the room

"Of course I do. I'm Krillin's master, why wouldn't I have only his best interests at heart?" Krillin would have to ask him one day how he made his sunglasses shine like that on command. He, Gohan, Bulma and Yamcha collectively sighed. A moment later however, the turtle master's nutty grin returned, and he turned to Oolong, who was also smirking. Almost as one, they started chanting together

"Girls at the Kame House! Girls at the Kame House!"

The idea of actually being able to bring Eighteen home with him to the Kame House brought on a new flush to Krillin's cheeks, but he decided it was better to put an end to their misconceptions as soon as possible, before it got any worse.

"Guys you're wrong! It's not like that! We were just talking. It was nothing serious, really!" He had to shout rather loudly to make himself heard, and was amazed that it suddenly got everyone's attention. That was until he realised it was the person standing behind him whom everybody was watching. Like Vegeta, Eighteen had the gift of silencing a room upon entering, though it was especially effective now as all conversation before she'd come in had been about her. Krillin's jaw dropped at the same time as his eyes popped open and his face turned rapidly from red to white. The look on her face was dangerous, and Krillin backed off quickly. She glared around the room briefly, daring anyone to make a comment about her - which of course no one did - before sweeping nonchalantly into a free chair and tucking her hair back behind one ear.

The tension in the room gradually eased, and Bulma made her way over to the Android. She pulled up a chair beside her, and Krillin surreptitiously took a seat next to Bulma, though he positioned himself away from her so it wasn't too obvious that he was listening in. He couldn't help but want to be near Eighteen, help her in any way he could. So he listened, looking shiftily guilty as though he'd already been caught at his childish antics.

At first, neither woman said anything, but the silence seemed to be irritating Eighteen, who looked up first into Bulma's pleasantly calm face.

"What is it?" She said in the flat sort of tone that suggested that Bulma had interrupted Eighteen in the middle of a very important task, rather than Bulma speaking to her in her own house. Krillin marvelled at her gall, but even more wondrous, Bulma's expression did not change.

"So what are you planning to do from here?" She asked in a perfectly friendly tone. Eighteen looked surprised, as though she had never given her future any thought.

"I'll wait until Android Seventeen is back in order, then we'll both leave." She said succinctly. Clearly she felt that this was all Bulma needed to know, but Krillin also got the impression she was keeping it short because indeed, she _had _no idea where she was going after this. How could she? She had only just been activated and freed barely two weeks ago. Her place had been beside her brother and Android Sixteen and her purpose had been to kill Goku. What did she have now all of that was gone?

"That's not quite what I meant." Bulma replied patiently. "Seventeen is going to take a while to recover. What are you planning to do in the meantime? Do you have anywhere to stay?" Eighteen frowned, but Krillin felt his heart leap up to his throat. It was the perfect opportunity! He could invite her to stay with him at the Kame House. All he had to do was stand up and say '_Hey, I've got a room, you could stay with me.' _It should have been so easy. But Krillin's heart was racing a million miles an hour; his limbs didn't seem to be able to move. _Stand up. Just stand up. Come on, just do it. Just offer it to her, what's the worst that could happen? _He psyched himself up, and stood up so fast it almost knocked his chair over at the same time as Bulma spoke again.

"Because you could stay here, at least for a few days. We've got plenty of spare rooms." Krillin promptly fell over in pure shock and embarrassment, his heart plummeting as suddenly as it had lifted. Both Bulma and Eighteen just stared at him, and he started giggling from the floor to alleviate the tension. After a moment, Eighteen looked back at Bulma. She nodded once, without smiling or saying thank you. "Good. That's settled then. Now did you want to use the bathroom? It's probably been a while since you got the chance to wash." Once again Eighteen nodded, and her expression was a neutral one, rather than one of her 'I'm-going-to tear-you-apart-piece-by-piece-and-stomp-all-over-the-remains' ones. Krillin gathered this was a good sign. "Okay, well the bathroom's this way; I'll just get you a towel and see if I can find you a change of clothes." Without another glance back at Krillin, both women stood and left the room. Krillin got back onto his chair, feeling embarrassed, bereft of his chance to spend more time with Eighteen and incredibly guilty as he tried to suppress the rather ungentlemanly images that were suddenly coming to mind of Eighteen in the shower.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** Awww, poor Krillin. He seems to have missed his chance again.

Much to come, stay tuned for chapter 7, and please review to tell me your thoughts and criticisms, I am always open to hearing them.


	7. Why Don't You Get A Job?

**Summary: **A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer: **Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Seven - Why Don't You Get A Job?

Krillin heard a sound next to his right ear and jumped in surprise. It was only Mr Briefs holding little Trunks, but Krillin was so afraid that his Eighteen-shower thoughts were so loud that Mr Briefs might hear them if he came too close. Of course, this was not the case, and Mr Briefs just looked politely confused at Krillin's reaction.

"Well, quite a picnic we're having today, isn't it?" The scientist said bemusedly. "There's always such excitement around our Bulma. Isn't there Trunks?" He mocked to the baby in his lap. Trunks made a few babbling sounds back at him.

"There sure is. Not to mention all the stuff that happens around Vegeta!" Krillin laughed. "With those two as his parents, this kid's going to grow up into one tough little guy!" Mr Briefs laughed with him for a few moments.

"Still, a little less excitement would do Bulma and Trunks some good I think. My wife and I don't mind taking care of Trunks, but Bulma's had barely any time for him lately. He holds out pretty well for a one-year-old, but still, a baby needs his mother." Dr Briefs turned and searched the room. "Mrs Briefs is probably cleaning up from the party. It's too bad, I really need to start working again." He sighed. Krillin felt bad for Mr Briefs, and for little Trunks. Eighteen was her own person, he knew that, but somehow he felt like he was personally responsible for the troubles her presence might be causing people, chiefly because it had been his choice to take her with him up to Kami's lookout. He'd spoken out for her, taken care of her and vouched for her character. That connected them somehow.

"Mr Briefs, if you need to get back to work, I can take Trunks for a little while." He offered, holding his arms out. Mr Briefs looked surprised. "I mean, I haven't had much experience with kids, but just until Bulma gets back should be okay, right?"

"Thank you. You're sure you don't mind?" Krillin nodded resolutely. "Well, alright. If he starts crying he probably just needs to be burped. Hold him on your leg and pat his back gently, okay? Bulma should be back before anything else goes wrong." And with that Mr Briefs placed the infant half-saiyan into Krillin's waiting hands. The doctor departed, and Krillin was left to contemplate his new charge. In fact, they seemed to be contemplating each other. Trunks did not cry or smile when he was put into a stranger's hands, but simply stared at him, in the blunt and unabashed way that only small children can do. Krillin offered the kid a smile, which elicited no reaction whatsoever.

Sitting Trunks on his lap, he figured he may as well try talking to him.

"Well little Trunks, it's just you and me now. I'm Krillin by the way, an old friend of your mom's. It's nice to finally meet you." Once again, Trunks did absolutely nothing, and Krillin began to feel a little foolish. _What _do _you do with babies anyway?_He wondered. He'd never babysat for anyone before, and Trunks was one of the first babies he'd really held since Gohan was small. Thinking back to those times, he tried to remember what he'd seen Chi Chi and Goku do to entertain baby Gohan. Bouncing up and down on the lap was something he remembered, so he gave it a try. To his surprise, it worked rather well. Trunks' dumbfounded, unresponsive face was replaced by a steady, gurgling giggle. Krillin found himself quite entertained by the child's sounds, and his simple happiness was infectious. He laughed happily along with Trunks, bouncing him up and down quite comfortably.

This, he thought to himself, was nice.

************************

Bulma led Eighteen up two floors through Capsule Corp, into a room which was most certainly not a bathroom. It contained a king-sized bed, several family pictures of Bulma, Vegeta and their child and two closets which took up a full half of the wall space.

"What are we doing here?" Eighteen asked. Bulmawalked over to one of the large closets, threw the door open and walked inside. Eighteen followed, and gazed around the inside of her wardrobe enviously. This woman had to have every kind of skirt, short dress, brand-name top and shoe known to man. Eighteen could remember going through Chi Chi's closet before, looking for something decent to wear, and only finding an absurdly extensive range of traditional, mature-looking chongsums. Eighteen had assumed that all the people who were friends with Goku must have had equally bland taste in fashion, but one glance around Bulma's closet had made her re-assess this idea. Bulma had _style_. Eighteen had always leaned towards more modern fashions - feminine but practical. She was completely confident about her body (it had after all, been manufactured and perfected through science), but she wasn't much of one to over-advertise it. Whilst some of Bulma's clothes were perfectly decent, some were so daring that Eighteen would have had no use for them.

Bulma meanwhile, had a frown of concentration on her face and her head resting between her thumb and forefinger. She 'hmmm'ed to herself a bit, and walked in a circle around the android, who felt somewhat annoyed at the obvious examination of her body.

"You know, you're probably about the same size as I was before I had Trunks. I think I can find you something in here." With that she went browsing through her clothes, stopping once in a while to stare back at Eighteen, as if checking measurements. Eighteen just stood with her arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular. At length, Bulma pulled out a long-sleeved black top and a pair of fitted jeans. Feminine, yet practical. Eighteen, despite herself, was impressed that Bulma could find something so similar to her own style without asking any questions. "There we go, These should fit." Eighteen took the clothes, and though she didn't say thank you, she nodded her head approvingly, which Bulma didn't seem to mind.

With her fresh clothes in hand, she followed Bulma to the bathroom. Bulma stopped at the cupboard just outside the bathroom and produced new towels for Eighteen, then ushered her in and left her to wash.

*********************

Trunks was just starting to squall in Krillin's lap when Bulma returned, and it was with relief that he finally turned him over.

"Gee thanks Krillin, I know dad was really busy too, it must have been a big help to have somebody watch over Trunks for a little while." Now back in his mother's arms, Trunks cheered up immediately, and laughed delightedly when Bulma started pulling funny faces at him. Krillin watched and wondered to himself if people always acted so silly and unembarrassed around babies. Probably. The thought led him to wondering if Vegeta ever pulled funny faces or used 'motherese' to make Trunks laugh. The thought was so ludicrously funny he gave out a muffled chuckle before he could stop himself. If Bulma became embarrassed from someone apparently laughing at her behaviour with her child, she didn't show it.

"I'm going to head back now and check on Dende." Rumbled a voice behind them. Krillin turned to see Piccolo heading out the door. "If the androids start causing trouble, let me know." He said seriously to Bulma. She looked up at him and smirked.

"Thanks Piccolo, but don't worry. If any of the androids try anything, I have Vegeta down the hall, and he'd be happy to take care of it." Piccolo just nodded, and walked out.

"Bye Piccolo! Thanks for your trouble!" Krillin called after him.

Shortly afterwards, Gohan stood to leave too. "I've really gotta be going guys. Mom's gonna be really mad already, I stayed way longer than I told her I'd be out." Krillin cringed in sympathy for the boy, knowing the angry tirade he was going to be in for when he got home.

"Man, good luck with that Gohan. And say hi to Chi Chi for me - er, when she calms down." Gohan nodded.

"Sure thing Krillin. See you later!" He waved, and was gone.

This left Yamcha with Puar, Master Roshi and Oolong sipping tea, and Krillin with Bulma and little Trunks. Mr Briefs then popped his head in the door and said,

"Bulma honey, can I have a word for a moment?"

"Sure dad." Bulma left with Trunks, and Krillin went over to sit with Yamcha.

"So dude," Yamcha began as Krillin sat down. "Did you get to first base with the chic yet?" He asked, throwing a thumb over his should to point in the general direction Eighteen had gone. Right on cue, Krillin blushed madly again. Damn. For all his training, he was still pretty bad at covering up his emotions.

"I already told you, it was nothing like that! Man, if you keep on like that you're going to ruin whatever small chance I do have of...of.." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Yamcha grinned at him.

"Of what? Hey man, if you managed to get a hottie like Marron -" he broke off briefly and looked behind him, as if he still half-expected Bulma to be there, berating him for his flirting. Must be an old habit. "-then this android should be a snap for you. Just show her the old charm." He finished, winking at Krillin.

"There never was an 'old charm' with Marron." Krillin retorted. "I stuttered around her for ages, even after we moved in together. I think she found it cute or something."

"Hmmm..." Yamcha considered, and Krillin remembered that in the face of Marron's blatant sexuality Yamcha hadn't exactly been 'Mr Smooth' either. Marron had never seemed to mind this when she hit on the ex-bandit though. Quite the contrary, she showed on more than one occasion how very interested in him she was.

"You have a point. You could be in trouble then, because the cute stuttering and the shiny bald head might not work on this one." He looked up at the ceiling contemplatively, then a conspiratorial grin spread across his face. "You wanna learn some smooth pick up lines?"

"P-Pick up lines!? Are you sure? Do you really think I could pull them off?"

"Maybe with some practice. I had a lot of practice with Bulma, I can tell you. It usually helps to have some cute little trademark gesture too, like...running one hand through your-" He stopped mid-sentance and mid-demonstration of a smooth 'hand through the hair' technique as he realised how difficult this could prove for Krillin. "I...guess that one's not going to work though." He laughed lamely. Krillin sighed heavily and hung his head.

"I've got no chance." He muttered to himself.

Yamcha was going through the finer points of 'cool' postures to use around women when Bulma came back in, still holding Trunks. Both men immediately stopped their conversation, knowing how little impressed Bulma would be about their choice of topics.

"Hey Krillin, Yamcha, can I ask a favour of you two?"

"Umm...sure. What is it?"

"My dad's been receiving calls left, right and centre from big name companies all over the country who want us to help them out with removing rubble and starting the reconstruction of their buildings. Government departments too, wanting repairs and stuff done. People have started noticing that when disaster comes to town, Capsule Corp-made structures hold out better than most other designs. This is bringing in a lot of business for us, but maybe a little too much. We're going to be sending in a lot of robot assistants, and once dad and I have finished drawing up blueprints for the new buildings we'll send in human employees to oversee the reconstruction. But in the meantime we've got a ton of rubble to remove, and it'd be a whole lot easier to get started on rebuilding if we didn't have such a big cleaning job to do.

If you guys could go in there and get things cleared up for us, it'd make things go much quicker, and we could get more requests done, hopefully not having to turn down business offers. I can arrange to have the area cleared, so you won't have to worry about being recognised or stared at when you start to fly, and I will pay you for it properly. What do you think?"

Krillin and Yamcha considered, looked at each other, and seemed to mutually agree.

"Sure, I'm in." Said Yamcha, shrugging.

"Me too. When do you want us to start?" Krillin asked. Bulma looked outside.

"Well it's getting pretty late now, but we'll start with the most urgent callers in the morning. Do you think you guys can get here at around six tomorrow?" Both nodded, though Yamcha somewhat reluctantly so. He wasn't much of an early riser.

"Excellent. Now Android Eighteen will have someone to work with, and I don't have to worry that she'll overdo it." Krillin just about fell out of his chair.

"Eighteen's coming too?!" he spluttered. Yamcha looked concerned as well though, and even Puar, who was hanging over Yamcha's shoulder, gasped in worry.

"Man, Bulma, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, me and Krillin aren't exactly pushovers, but Eighteen is a programmed murderer who can beat us into the ground without breaking a sweat. What if she turns on us?" Krillin glanced sideways at Yamcha, frowning. Clearly his approval for Krillin to get with Eighteen was on a better-you-than-me level.

"Oh, don't be so paranoid Yamcha. She'll be fine." Bulma replied, waving him off.

"So she's already said she'll come?" Asked Krillin incredulously.

"No. I haven't asked her yet, but she will." Yamcha raised an eyebrow.

"How can you be sure of that? She doesn't really seem like an outdoorsy sort of....android."

"That doesn't matter. It'll give her something to do instead of following me around demanding to know about how her brother is doing, she'll get paid for it, and besides, seeing as she's staying here she might as well earn her board. Not to mention I'd like to avoid her coming into contact with Vegeta if at all possible, and that'll be much easier if she's not here. Ugh! Can you imagine what'd be left of the house if those two started a row?" her explanation mollified them both somewhat, and Yamcha seemed rather impressed with his ex-girlfriend's ability to manipulate.

"Wow. Well I guess you've got a point there. We'll just have to...see how it goes." He stood. "In that case, I'd better be getting home to get some sleep for tomorrow." He started to leave, then turned around awkwardly, and put a hand behind his head in an embarrassed manner. "Er, but the way, just how much IS the rate we'll be working for?" Bulma glared at him. Yamcha was still a bandit at heart, not to mention a spendthrift. She sighed.

'I'll pay you three thousand zeny by the hour.' Even Krillin looked up in surprise. That was an extremely good rate. Yamcha looked ashamed at having asked, but clearly also happy with the result.

'Right. Er, thanks Bulma. I'll see you tomorrow then!' He waved and walked almost robotically out the door, Puar levitating after him.

*************************

A/N: A note on money; the zeny's value is never exactly made clear, but I think it's supposed to equivalate to the japanese yen. Three thousand zeny is therefore about $30, give or take depending on which country you live in.

Also, Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all have a great 2009!

Please leave a review with any comments or criticism.


	8. Bulma's Proposal

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Eight- Bulma's Proposal

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Krillin wanted to stay around long enough to say goodbye to Eighteen, but worried that he was making himself too obvious, as there was no real reason for him to still be staying. Master Roshi and Oolong kept glancing over at him, checking to see if he was ready to make a move. He was in luck however, for just as he started to stand up, the door opened and Eighteen stood there, looking much more refreshed in Bulma's clothes. Clearly she was not the sort for dresses and flimsy material like Marron or occasionally Bulma, but Eighteen had a way of making herself look good even in more modest clothing. Snapping out of his appraisal, he took his moment to say his piece.  
"Well I guess we'd better be going now too. I'll-I'll see you tomorrow then Eighteen!" He said as casually as he could. He gave her a friendly salute, wished Bulma a quick goodbye and walked out the door in what he hoped was a dignified manner, Master Roshi and Oolong following him out after giving Eighteen a not-so-subtle once over.

Despite it being one of the quietest days he'd had since before the androids appeared, Krillin felt exhausted. In some ways it was a relief to finally get in the car and start the long drive home. Master Roshi and Ooling were asleep by the time they hit the highway. Krillin was fine with this, as he was able to think in peace as he drove. His window was down, the sunset's light was warm and the breeze was cool. Blissfully caught up in it all, Trunks' words came back to him.

Anything is possible. Krillin smiled. He sure hoped so.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

When only herself, Bulma, and baby Trunks were left in the room, Eighteen found herself feeling surprisingly alone. She quickly pushed the feeling aside and turned to Bulma. "Is he coming back tomorrow?" She enquired. Bulma raised her eyebrows.  
"Krillin? Why? Did you want him to?" Eighteen scowled in reply.  
"He said 'see you tomorrow', that's all. I don't care one way or the other."

"Well I hope you can at least learn to get along with him. He and Yamcha are going to do a job for me starting tomorrow."

"That's no concern of mine. Where do you want me to spend the night?"

"Oh yes! This way, I'll show you your room." Bulma turned and lead Eighteen out of the conference room. They passed Bulma's room where the infant's mother placed Baby Trunks down into his cot. He had already been fast asleep on her shoulder, so she did not linger, but started climbing staircases. "It might be more your concern than you think though." Bulma said, almost like it was just a side note.  
"Huh?"  
"Krillin, he'll be a little more your concern than you think. You're going to start work with him tomorrow." Eighteen stopped dead.  
"What?" Bulma turned around on the stairs. "Yeah, you and Krillin and Yamcha are going to do some work to help Capsule Corp do some recon-"  
"No way. I'm not just another one of your little trained dog employees." She was glaring dangerously now, but Bulma stood her ground.

"Just in case you don't remember, that's your brother we've just saved in there." But her words just aggravated the android more. In Eighteen's right hand her fingers curled in menacingly, and a ki ball was flickering to life in their midst.

"Are you actually going to hold me to that and try to keep me as some slave like a petty mortal?" Bulma eyed the ki ball warily, but still held her ground. Eighteen could almost hear her carefully weighing her words.

"Right now the only thing I'm going to hold you to is your vow to the new Kami, and warn you that you won't last long if you kill me here. And no, I'm not going to put you into slavery because of any 'life debt'. I was just reminding you that when people do things for each other, there's this little thing called gratitude we sometimes have." Eighteen's ki ball winked out, and she relaxed her hand. "People huh?" And she was silent for a moment, but did not continue to speak on her train of thought. Instead, she queried, "So then, I have a choice in this 'job' of yours?" Bulma nodded. Eighteen immediately flicked her hair over her shoulder nonchalantly, and started walking up the stairwell ahead of Bulma. "Then the answer is no."  
"That's too bad." Bulma sighed semi-dramatically and followed behind Eighteen. "Krillin was really looking forward to seeing you again." Eighteen stopped on the stairwell, but did not look back. "And why is that any concern of mine either?" She asked coldly. Bulma made a noncommittal noise, but nonetheless pressed whatever advantage she could.  
"It's only for a couple of weeks you know. It'll give you something to do during the day so you don't get bored, and I will pay you of course." Eighteen's posture revealed something of an active interest now.  
"How much?" Bulma told her, and Eighteen raised an eyebrow. She knew very well the value of the zeny, even though in the past she had never bothered with actually paying when she went shopping. But Bulma had made a very good point.

"Fine." She said, and continued on up the stairs with her hands on her hips, as though it was a great inconvenience for her to acquiesce to Bulma's proposal. "I'll need the money now that I have to obey your stupid Earth laws. But I want to be paid daily." Her tone warranted no arguing, and she did not look back to see if Bulma agreed or not.

They climbed the rest of the stairs in silence, Bulma catching up to Eighteen when they finally reached the seventh floor, where Eighteen had a lush guest room set up for her. There were towels laid out across a large four poster bed, all in a pale pink colour. There was also a pair of pink silk pajamas with matching slippers laid out, and a small closet for Eighteen to hang up her day-clothes in. Eighteen strode over to the bed and seized the pajamas.

"What exactly, are these supposed to be?" She demanded, her face twisted up in repulsion.

"They're for you to sleep in. I assume you didn't bring any with you?" Bulma replied quite calmly. "Who would ever wear something this hideous? There's absolutely no style in it whatsoever, and the colour is awful." Bulma shrugged.

"Gratitude thing, remember? Those are mine. If you need anything there's a button above your dresser on the bedside table. Buzz it and we have robotic servants who are active around the clock. Try not to abuse them though, they have a lot to do." Eighteen dropped the pajamas back on the bed, crossed her arms, sat down and turned away in displeasure.

"Robot servants? Why do humans always have to make robots into their playthings? You create them with greater strength and dexterity and intelliegnce than most human beings, and yet because you create them they are nothing but slaves for your every whim." Bulma must have realised that she had touched a nerve, because she said nothing for a moment.

"......There's also a phone on your bedside table. If you pick that up it'll take you straight to reception. There are human employees who can help you out instead if you prefer." She said tactfully. Eighteen did not respond.

"Well, we'll be starting at six thirty in the morning. I'll have one of the cleaning servants come and wake you-"  
"Not necessary." The android interrupted bluntly.

"Um....okay. In that case, we'll see you on the front lawns at six thiry sharp." Once again, Eighteen made no move to respond, or even acknowledge that she'd heard. Bulma left quietly, shutting the door behind her.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

_Eighteen was running. It felt like she had always been running. She had always been tired, and scared, and desperately trying to escape her inevitable trap. Things reached for her everywhere, things on the outskirts of her vision that she could not trace the shapes of. She was being chased by shadows, things no more substantial than light. There were the sounds of metalic thunks around her, echoing ominously, and the voice of Dr Gero telling her, "This is your only purpose. Why are you running? This is what you were made for." And she ran even faster. Had to find Seventeen. He was supposed to be here, they were never apart. She called for him, and the blackness echoed her words. She called again, desperately, and she heard his voice, faint, whimpering, a tone she had never heard her brother use, but knew it must be his. "Help me sister. Why aren't you with me? We should be together"  
She followed the voice into the distance and saw a figure cloaked in shadow. "Seventeen?" She called again. "Sister..." The voice said, and she ran towards her brother. She came closer, closer, and the figure turned. It seemed to take forever to turn into the light and face her, and forever to quite reach him. Then the light touched his face. Green skin and alien features grinned back at her, and she knew she was trapped. Cell leaned towards her, and she found she could not move. His eyes glittered as they leered into hers. There was no tail this time, just a horrible creak as his mouth opened, wide and sickening, to consume her._

Eighteen was jolted awake by the tiny sound of her door opening. She literally flew to the door, yanked it open and was a split second away from pounding the intruder into dust when she realised it was only a very terrified manservant of Capsule Corp holding a tray. He winced and nearly dropped it upon seeing Eighteen's deadly look and her fist inches away from his face, but when the seconds passed and he did not die, he offered up the silver tray to his charge, his shaking hands rattling it precariously. Her heart returning to it's normal speed, Eighteen's brow furrowed in confusion. "Breakfast?" She glanced back inside her bedroom and saw the digital clock flashing 5:30am. _Ah._ She turned back to the manservant, whose legs looked as though they might give out on him at any second, took the tray from him without a word and shut the door behind her. She heard him sigh and slump to the ground outside the door, relieved to have survived the breakfast delivery.

Thinking back on her dream, Eighteen sat down on her bed, put the tray beside her and breathed out a trembling sigh. There's nothing I can do about any of that now. She told herself. She pushed it to the back of her mind, and remembered her task for the day. She was still wearing her revolting pajamas (she was officially getting her own sleeping gear as soon as work was over today), and lifted the silver dome covering her meal. Eighteen had been hungry yesterday, having not eaten anything in nearly two days (technically over a week counting the time inside Cell), but would never, ever have asked to be fed. As it was, she so hated how in debt to these people she was that she had no intention of reducing herself to asking for food. Her design had been well planned out, she could run much longer without food than humans, but this did not mean she was not ravenous after days without sustenance. She devoured everything on her plate.

Eighteen was debating going back to sleep for a short time when she received a second visitor, this one smart enough to knock.  
"Eighteen? Can I come in? It's Bulma." Came the voice from the other side of the door. Eighteen looked down at her pajamas and scowled.

"Wait." She called back, and quickly changed into the jeans and black shirt from the day before. She stuffed the pajamas under the bedclothes, so no one (except for that stupid manservant) would even know she had been wearing them in the first place. Bulma was stood there wearing her lab coat and the same black-and-white striped dress she had been wearing the day before.

"Good morning." Eighteen made no response, but Bulma didn't seem to expect her to. "I came to give you a change of clothes for today. Something a little more durable than that."

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Krillin had slept extremely well, and was up at the crack of dawn. He wolfed down some rice from the rice cooker for breakfast and ran back upstairs to change into his civilian clothes. A quick wash of his face and twenty nervous seconds of inspecting himself later he was in the air and flying towards West City. As late as he was running, flying was still immeasurably faster than any other kind of transport, so he managed to land on Bulma's front lawn by 6:20. He waited on the lawn, staring at the building's windows intently and feeling more nervous by the minute. He couldn't see her of course, but then Capsule Corp windows were designed not to been seen through from the outside. The corporation had too many secrets that could be stolen by rival companies to risk it. He found himself passing the time fidgeting and trying not to give himself away. Yawning, Yamcha turned up five minutes later.

"Yo Krillin." He said sleepily, raising a hand to acknowledge his companion.

"Hey Yamcha." Krillin replied. Yamcha was clearly far too tired to notice his friend's restlessness.

At six thirty on the dot, Bulma emerged from her front doors with a bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hey guys!" She called, much perkier than Yamcha, but Krillin noticed she was still wearing yesterday's clothes, and there were dark rings under her eyes.

"Uh, morning Bulma. Hey, have you been to sleep at all? You look really tired." He asked. "Hmmm? Oh, no not yet. I've been up all night with dad getting the blueprints done for today. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, and I know how quickly you macho guys are going to get through this work, so I wanted my working team to be able to keep up with you. There's been a lot to prepare." She said, and as she did she too broke off with a yawn.

"Geez Bulma, you don't have to overdo it. We can work at whatever pace you want. You need to sleep sometime." He wondered how much coffee she'd been drinking just to keep herself up for this long. He looked over her shoulder to the front doors, wondering if Eighteen was really about to walk through them. When he realised Bulma was looking at him confusedly, he grasped at an excuse. "Uh- uuuh, so where's Vegeta anyway?"

"What? Oh, he hasn't come out of the gravity room since yesterday. He must still be in a bad mood." Krillin's mouth dropped open, partially because he was floored that Vegeta had been training solidly for nearly 24 hours in who-knew-what density, and partially because of Bulma's complete lack of concern about it.

"Is that really okay? I mean, I know it's Vegeta, but-"  
"He's fine. Even before the androids came he would usually spend most of his time in there, and now that he's powered up even higher than before his endurance has probably gone up too. I'll wait another ten hours or so before I start to worry."  
"Hey Bulma, do you think I could borrow your maseusse later? I've had this kink in my right shoulder since the battle with Cell...." Yamcha threw in, completely oblivious to the previous conversation for yawning. Bulma started on about the schedule they were on and how a slege hammer would probably suit Yamcha better anyway, but Krillin lost track of the conversation the moment Capsule Corp's doors opened again. For the second time that morning Krillin's jaw dropped, but in a much more deeply stunned way than before. This woman (if indeed she was a true woman), was able to render him speechless at any given time anyway, but what Android Eighteen was wearing right now would make gargoyles blush. He knew this outfit. He had seen Bulma wearing it many times during their youth. Even back then he'd thought Bulma was very pretty in it, but seeing it on Eighteen blew him away.

It was a tight, white, midriff t-shirt, coupled with a pair of brown, well-worn jeans. The jeans would have looked perfectly ordinary if the right leg had not been ripped off just below where the pants divided. She was, effectively, wearing a pair of half jeans, half hot pants. He tore his eyes away from her bared leg walking towards him to look at her face. Through his stupor he was surprised to see her looking directly at him, smirking. Krillin was immediately reminded of the last time she'd looked at him like that. Right after she and her twin brother had defeated Vegeta and decimated his friends, right after he'd begged the two of them not to go after Goku. Right before she'd leaned over and....

He pulled himself sharply back from that thought.

"Uh, h-hey! Good morning Eighteen!" He practically shouted. "Did you sleep well? I mean ummm...you look great!" _Breathe_. He told himself, and bowed his head so that he could regroup his thoughts. _Remember to breathe._  
"Hello Krillin." Came a smooth reply. She responded! She actually gave him a greeting! He was so excited that she had approved of him enough to voluntarily say something nice to him that he looked back up at her and positively beamed. She was still smirking, but it now looked far less predatory than it had that first time on the country highway...

"Oh hey, I'm glad those clothes fit you, they'll be really good, you can do anything in them." Bulma said, realising Eighteen had arrived. Eighteen broke her eye contact with Krillin, and he took the opportunity to mentally shake himself. He looked around at his other companions whilst Bulma talked to Eighteen, and noticed that Yamcha was wearing an expression almost identical to the one Krillin had had a few moments earlier. The difference was that behind the shock and the obvious admiration, there was a hunger there, and Krillin remembered with a start that he was not the only person to have seen Bulma wearing this when she was sixteen years old. Yamcha would have been much more...familiar with both the outfit and the girl in it. Krillin found himself suddenly wanting to smack him, for he didn't know if Yamcha was seeing Eighteen and imagining Bulma, or if he was just appreciating the new girl in these clothes far too much.

Krillin crossed his arms and glared at Yamcha. This was already reminding him unpleasantly of being at the Kame House with Marron, and how easily she would flit back and forth between himself and Yamcha, whoever her boyfriend was. Yamcha had done nothing to help either, as he had clearly been very attracted to Marron. Even though Yamcha had offered to help Krillin with winning Eighteen over, Krillin found himself fast reconsidering his acceptance.

"Hey Yamcha, planning on closing that gaping hole anytime soon"  
Yamcha snapped out of it to turn and face Krillin's flat stare.

"Whoah, sorry man. That outfit brings back memories." Krillin felt a sick churn in his stomach. _What kind of memories?_

"I'm sure."

"Okay guys, I've got a few things for you all." Bulma began, and unloaded the bag from her shoulder. Pulling out three radio communicators, she said, "Use these throughout the day to let us know your progress. If anything goes wrong, these things are only tuned to one frequency, so it'll take you straight to us, no fancy codes or anything. Just push the button at the side here." She showed them, then pulled out a clipboard. "This has a list of the buildings that need to be knocked down and cleared away. We'll be doing these condemned buildings first, and worry about the more delicate repair jobs later. I've already been arranging to have your areas screened off, so for the first few floors of each building no one will be able to see what you're doing. Not that many people are working at all today, as everyone's still in recovery and party mode, so you shouldn't run into too much trouble. I'm sending you to the most central areas first, so I'm hoping you guys can take care of those quickly and before most civilians even wake up to notice the way you're tearing the buildings down. I'll give you a new list of places to go to each day, so as soon as you guys finish this one you can just check in back here and go home. But please take your time and be careful not to be recognised."

"Uh, well okay then." Krillin said. "I guess we'll get going!" He said, taking the clipboard from Bulma. "Hmmm....Hope City first is it?" He asked, looking at the first address on the list. He turned and was about to take flight when Bulma spoke again.

"Oh! One last thing before I forget!" She said, and took a capsule out of the bag. "This is to help you stay undercover. Yamcha you can fly it right?" Yamcha nodded. "You'll need to use this when you're entering and exiting crowded areas."

"One of your planes huh? Okay then." Krillin asked, nodding in approval. Eighteen sighed.

"Why should we use a plane? It'll be so much quicker to get his job done if we just fly ourselves."

"It keeps you out of sight. If you want to turn yourselves into instant celebrities and have reporters following you everywhere wanting to know about you and the Cell Games, you can do that whenever you want. But at the moment you're working for Capsule Corp, and I don't want my front yard turned into a picnic ground for the press. Besides," she added with a raised eyebrow at Eighteen, "my dad was listening to radio news of you and Seventeen while you were looking for Goku. It doesn't sound like you always just fly wherever you need to go either. Didn't you spend the whole time driving around in a pink freezer truck?"

Yamcha and Krillin goggled at her. Krillin couldn't even begin to imagine the sophisticated Android Eighteen, the hulk-like Android Sixteen and smooth-as-glass Android Seventeen, driving all over the continent in a pink freezer truck of all things.

"It was Seventeen's idea." Eighteen mumbled, blushing. Apparently she had no more objections to taking a plane either.

"Right, well thanks Bulma!" Krillin said loudly, deciding to save Eighteen from further embarrassment. Yamcha pocketed the capsuled airplane and the two of them took off. Eighteen, sighed, uncrossed her arms and rose into the air, easily catching up to the two super humans who were already nearly out of sight.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: Sorry for the overlong absence guys! I was having some frustrations with editing and a computer which seemed to keep resetting my changes. It's all better now though, and a big shout out to Coppelian, thank you soooo much for reading and leaving your critique! Really must try to chat to you on facebook some time, I miss you :)

Thanks also to Niori for sticking with me so far.


	9. What I Fight For

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Nine - What I Fight For

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

The process Bulma had outlined went smoothly with eight different buildings around Hope City throughout the morning. The three fighters would bring down the buildings with as little fuss as possible, then gather and surreptitiously fly the rubble to the appropriate waste dumps. By midday, Krillin and Yamcha were sweating, dirty and very hungry. Although Eighteen, annoyingly, seemed to remain sweat-less, she was still coated with a thin layer of dust.

"Uh, Eighteen?" Krillin ventured. "Just wondering, do you want to have a break now?" It had taken him a full nine sites to work himself up to asking the question, but his hope quickly faded when he saw the affronted look on the android's face.

"Do you actually think that is medial work is too much for me? How typical." Eighteen flicked her hair over shoulder as emphasis. Krillin's brain clocked overtime trying to figure out what he'd said wrong.

"What? No! That's not what I meant! I just meant that Yamcha and I are getting kinda hungry." A moment later his stomach growled obnoxiously, and he had never felt so relieved to hear it. Eighteen raised her eyebrows; _her _stomach certainly never announced itself like a rocket engine.

"Oh." Was all she said, but she did sound rather embarrassed. "Well, are you leaving to get lunch then?" She asked, attempting to wipe some of the dust from her bared leg. Krillin's voiced was stilted as he forced out his reply.

"Well I was wondering if I could er....could I treat you? I mean it's no trouble, and I'm sure you could get whatever you wanted on your own, but I just thought I'd offer the favour seeing as you came out of your way to help out today and..." He purposefully shut his mouth.

"Sure." She sounded completely offhand, but Krillin's heart surged. She'd just agreed to go out to lunch with him! It seemed like the impossible had occurred. Sure it wasn't exactly a date, but how many people could have actually gotten a yes from Android Eighteen for a question like that?

Half an hour later, much to Krillin's great astonishment, they ended up in a bakery-cafe. He had been expecting demands to be taken to an expensive foreign restaurant but Eighteen seemed to be as blase about her food as she was about the rest of her life. Yamcha had gone off to have his ramen, leaving the two alone. Whilst they ate, they conversationally discussed how many places they had left to go.

"So we've got sixteen condemned buildings in Orange City, and that's it for the first day. We should knock off at about half past four."

"Good. I need time after work to go shopping. I can't stand wearing Bulma's clothes anymore." Krillin tried not to goggle.

"Really? They look nice on you."

"Thank you." She looked shiftily sideways. "Actually I wasn't referring to these. They're not so bad. It's more what I have to sleep in."

"Oh? Why is that so bad?" There was definitely colour to her cheeks now.

"I like to have a certain degree of style. Hot pink just doesn't cut it. Bulma seems to have fairly decent fashion sense, but I don't know what she was thinking with those things." Krillin smirked behind his danish. He was feeling warmed by the atmosphere in the shop and the growing ease of talking with Eighteen.

The rest of the day followed much the same as the first half had - grueling work with little time for small talk. Knock off time couldn't come soon enough for any of them. Bulma might be paying them well for this, but she sure knew how to get her money's worth.

Once back at Capsule Corp Headquarters, Dr Briefs emerged to give them their day's pay. As each accepted the envelopes, Yamcha asked,

"Didn't Bulma want to check over our list?" But Dr Briefs shook his head and took the clipboard back from Krillin.

"It looks like you've done a great job today. I checked that everything went smoothly. Bulma's gone to bed, and I don't want to disturb her if I don't have to. She's exhausted. Vegeta too." He finished.

"Vegeta?"

"Mmm." Bulma's father mumbled, still looking at the clipboard. "Vegeta's been training for well over twenty four hours too, and he didn't get much rest after the defeat of Cell. Even Saiyans run out of steam I guess. Besides, it's very rarely that Trunks gets to have both his mom and his dad to himself, so I'm leaving them alone to catch up on family time." Yamcha's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly towards Eighteen before a closed look came over his face. "Well anyway," continued the old man, "you can all head home now. We'll have you back here the same time tomorrow morning. Miss...er...Eighteen? We can draw you a bath now if you'd like." Eighteen looked down at her attractive but extremely dusty clothes and nodded.

"I want to go to your nearest shopping district afterwards though. Can you direct me there?" Dr Briefs looked skeptical, and Eighteen suddenly felt foolish for asking him. Dedicated scientists could be guaranteed to know nothing about shopping.

"Er...I can take you there if you like." Krillin interjected. "Dr Briefs, I'm sure you're very busy..." the man nodded, relieved. "And I've shopped around here quite often before, so I can probably show you some nice places."

Eighteen looked at him calculatingly, from the corner of her vision taking in what Yamcha probably thought were very encouraging gestures not intended for her to see. She finally decided that even if Krillin's motives were as bad as Yamcha was making them look, it was worth it just to avoid those hideous pajamas.

Northern Hills Shopping District was a classy and competitive area, the general sparkliness and familiar air-conditioning were so refreshingly part of this man-made environment, it lifted Eighteen's entire aspect.

She had expected Krillin to sit outside the stores or wander off after he showed her the place, but to her surprise Krillin not only stayed with her, he turned out to be a pretty decent shopping partner. When shopping with Seventeen, Eighteen had always had to put up with her twin's impatience and complete lack of appreciation for her purchases. Krillin didn't linger outside the stores, he came in to see what she liked. Whilst Eighteen was a confident shopper who didn't need to ask for opinions on what she bought, when Krillin complemented her clothes she found her ego flattered. He even stammeringly offered to carry her parcels for her, assuring her he knew she could easily carry it all on her own.

"You're quite the ruthless shopper you know." Krillin said to her on the way out, looking half-amused and half-exasperated.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly how to get what you want, all the vendors were terrified of you. Even I thought you were going to kill the one who fell on you in Lady Lucy's."

"People never fall that conveniently, why let him get away with it? Besides, I ended up getting a good deal on the dress he ended up selling me." She said with a smirk. Krillin could only laugh at her exuding confidence.

Krillin dropped Eighteen at the doors of Capsule Corp. He handed back her bags and boxes, one of which contained a dark, sultry nightdress which had made Krillin think things he'd sooner have died than admitted to Eighteen.

She had not said thank you for anything, but she smiled at Krillin as she said goodbye. As Krillin soared through the skies back to the Kame House, he found himself making a silent prayer.

_Please Kami, tell me she's real. _

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Roughly a week and a half passed in this manner. Eighteen's nightmares continued, and even Bulma noticed the difference in her hostility between morning and evening. Krillin and Yamcha would come to Capsule Corp at the crack of dawn to find Eighteen and either Bulma or Dr Briefs waiting outside. The list of the day's sites were given to Krillin, and they all set off together for another day's work. For the most part, very little was said, and after that first day, Mrs Briefs continually packed all three of them with huge bento boxes for their lunch, so going out to restaurants was no longer needed. Yamcha had been foolish enough a couple of times to try to make sly comments about Eighteen's body, but was rewarded each time either a boulder or a fist to the face from the android. The fist hurt more, he usually complained later. Work would continue until about dusk, and Eighteen would occasionally go out shopping afterwards. Although Krillin always offered, she only accepted his company twice more. He noticed she had a tendency to blow her money all at once, and doubted she had enough to even buy herself lunch the next day each time. The silences between them at work were becoming more comfortable however, and the few times when the opportunity for conversation presented itself, Krillin's nervousness was beginning to lessen. It was getting into late afternoon on a particularly hot and tiresome day when once such opportunity did present itself.

CRASH! Eighteen took a vicious pleasure in the destructively loud sound the wall made as she shattered it.

"Uh, everything okay?" Krillin asked politely. Eighteen flicked her hair over her shoulder - Krillin had come to accept this as Eighteen's version of a shrug.

"This work is ridiculous. All I've been doing is moving a couple of rocks from one place to another and ruining all my clothes. We should just be blasting these sites, it's foolish and inconvenient to do it all by hand!" She finished her speech by aiming a light kick at a remaining wall, which promptly fell backwards and nearly crushed Yamcha before he scrambled out of the way.

"Geez, was that really necessary? You could've killed me!" He grumbled over at Eighteen, but catching her glare silenced him, and he hurried back to work, hauling an armful of stone into the sky grumpily and disappearing. As Eighteen and Krillin got to work gathering the scattered stone into piles, Krillin spoke.

"It's funny you say that, because I was thinking the exact opposite. This is the reason I fight." Eighteen sneered.

"You fight so you can clean up rubble? What's the point in that?" Krillin frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, a long time ago I used to fight for the same reasons Goku and Vegeta fight - to become the best and not be overcome by anyone. Well, admittedly I also thought it was sexy ..." He added bashfully, "But the truth is, I'll never be the best, and any chance I had faded the moment Goku came to Earth.

As time has gone on I've become less and less useful in the battles to save to world, and I know that if there's a next time I might be of no use at all. By Kami, did you know I've already died in the attempt twice?

But when the time does come around, useful or not, I have to fight, because I can't just stand by and let the people I love die. All my friends are out there fighting, who am I to just sit back and let them take it? I can't, and I don't. When I go out there and fight battles I have no chance of winning, it's to try and hold on to what's worth saving. I'm not there for the glory or the pride, I'm there because more than anything I want to be able to protect something with my own hands."

As if to reinforce this, he looked down at his dusty, open hands as he spoke. "I know doing this work isn't like saving or protecting anyone, but it's a sure sign that we're all still alive, and we mananged to protect the Earth. It's helping the people who suffered because of our fights. Rebuilding is showing how we never gave up, and protected everyone after all."

_Even me._ Eighteen thought, turning away.

Krillin appeared to be musing to himself, but he spoke up again after a time. "Well, I know I'm not really so good at doing the protection thing. Last time I tried to save someone, Cell became complete." He hesitated several more moments, with a heavier silence. Eighteen realised with a start he was talking about destroying the controller. That day, despite his most desperate efforts to protect her, Krillin had been swept aside like a feather when Cell had come for her. She wondered if he really blamed himself for that. "But I'd really like to have something I could protect, something that really needed me." Again he paused, then laughed carelessly. "Something like being a father I guess!"

Eighteen found herself surprised at him. She thought of Seventeen and his foolish actions, his directionless pursuits and his disregard for all else. He could be fun, and he knew her like he knew himself, but he was a virtual Peter Pan. His only true wishes were to enjoy himself, and remain the best, just like every other fighter in the universe. Krillin's brand of courage was something Eighteen had never seen before, and she felt humbled by it.

Perhaps she had underestimated his character after all.

"So anyway Eighteen, what about you? What are your future goals, now that Cell's been defeated?" Eighteen was silent on this for a time, then said dismissively,

"Future or past, there is no difference for me. The way my body is built, I will never grow old. What's the point in thinking things like 'What do you want to be when you grow older?' That'll never happen to me." She continued to shift stone in silence for a few seconds, then realised Krillin had not moved. She looked up at him, the gravity in his face taking her aback.

"You might not ever grow old, but that doesn't mean you can't grow up." He held her gaze, then went back to working in silence, leaving Eighteen feeling confounded, almost scolded. She too went back to work, shortly afterwards taking her own load of stone into the sky, but thinking a great deal about what Krillin had said to her. She knew in all honesty that she had no idea what was supposed to come next. What does a robotic creature, free of it's creator, find purpose in? Seventeen would probably be content to simply continue as they always had, playing games until he grew tired of the rules and then switching to something new. Was that what was going to happen once he'd woken up again? Was that really what she wanted to go back to?

Bulma was waiting for them when they arrived back that evening, and offered for them to have some tea with her before they went home, as she sometimes did. All four of them went inside and sat around Bulma's living room table; a much higher, more western styled set up than the low table at the Kame House. Mrs Briefs bustled in and out and served everyone azuki bean cakes and tea, whilst the conversation revolved around the media of the Cell Games.

"I think they're trying to decide on a high enough honour to bestow on the 'Saviour of the World'." Bulma said caustically.

"Oh, didn't you hear dear?" Mrs Briefs chimed in. "Hope City is getting renamed. As of next year, it's officially going to be called 'Satan City', because that's where Hercule lives." Yamcha, Krillin and Bulma all simultaneously gaped in disbelief. Mrs Briefs nodded enthusiastically, completely mistaking the atmosphere. "Yeah, it's been all over the TV. You might be able to see it even now." She turned on the TV set. Sure enough, Hercule was still featured on every channel. It seemed the newscasters were all competing with each other to see who could compliment Mr Satan the most, and several short videos were played over and over of Mr Satan waving at fans at parades, surrounded by adoring women and followed closely by a young, angry-looking girl, presumably his daughter. The looks on the Z fighter's faces did not change as they watched.

"Ugh." Said Yamcha at length. "Unbelievable the credit that guy is getting. I could beat him up with my fingertip, why does he get all the girls and glory?" Envy oozed out of the ex-nomad.

"I know!" Agreed Krillin with feeling. "And just look at how much he's gloating! The guy can't even fly!"

"That's true and it's ridiculous," Bulma put in, "but if he takes all the glory, he also takes all the attention away from us, and we get lives normal lives again."

The fervent conversation was brought to an abrupt halt upon the entrance of an addition to the party. Vegeta, who had not been seen by the working party since the day Trunks had left, had at last emerged from the gravity chamber, likely searching for food. He was wearing another ruined saiyan-style battle suit and his regular scowl until the moment he spied Eighteen. Then his face became a mask of anger, and anyone with any knowledge of martial arts felt his ki signal skyrocket. Furious eyes fixed on the figure of Eighteen, an energy ball formed in his hands as he bellowed,

"ANDROID!"

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N:

Thanks so much for the support and the reviews guys, I really appreciate the critique.

Coppelian, Yeah, I had SO much trouble with line breaks in that chapter. I edited it so many times only have something else screw up in the process. The computer didn't like the formatting I think. Hopefully it'll be better in this chapter. And OH, there will be so much Hercules when you come back, and we shall make rocky road ice cream and sip daquiris.

Vampire Cabbit, I appreciate very much that you stayed for this story even though Seventeen doesn't play a big part. Yeah, for consistency's sake, I've decided that Mr Satan's first name is Hercule, so it clears up confusion no matter which version of the series you watch.

Hope you're all enjoying so far, the plot thickens from here on in.


	10. Just One Small Distinction

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone, Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Ten - Just One Small Distinction

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"Vegeta!"

Everyone was instantly on their feet, anticipating a fight.

"Whoa, what's the problem Vegeta? It's only Eighteen!" Krillin said, hands up near his face as one might do approaching a dangerous animal. Eighteen almost flinched as Vegeta pointed a finger at her on the hand that was not focusing ki. His teeth were practically bared at her, every muscle in his body tensed in anger. Eighteen was almost as on edge as the saiyan - she was well aware that Vegeta's power level now far exceeded her own.

"What is that android doing in the house?! I'll blast it's pretty little face into shrapnel!" Bulma was also quick on her feet however, and maneuvered, to Eighteen's surprise, in front of her.

"Vegeta calm down!" She said desperately. "You don't need to kill her!"

"That thing was scrap metal giving Cell indigestion last thing I saw. Why is it here?!" He threw back angrily at his wife.

"What? Wait a second!" Yamcha interceded. "You mean he didn't even know about her? Where has he been all this time?" Indeed, Eighteen remembered. He had not been on Kami's Lookout when she was revived, and if no one told him about her, then she supposed he just wouldn't have thought about it. Bulma rolled her eyes at the world in general.

"Training non-stop in the gravity chamber. He's barely been outside it since he got back. He didn't pick up that she was here because she has no ki trace, and I was keeping them apart." she replied irritably, eyes back on Vegeta.

"Move woman!" Vegeta yelled, though the android was astounded to note that depsite his incredible power, despite his radiating want to destroy Eighteen, he would not touch the fragile human woman standing stubbornly in his way.

"She's here because she needs to be. She's not hurting anyone, and neither is her brother -"

"The other one is here too?! Where is he so I can take him down after I blast this one?!"

"Well of course I'm not going to tell you if you're just going to kill him! Anyway," and here she pointed an accusing finger at Vegeta. "he's in a coma and can't fight you, so stop being such a jerk!" The number of people in the universe who could call Vegeta a jerk could be counted on one hand. Bulma apparently, was one of those fortunate few, for after a few moments, Vegeta visibly struggled to control his temper, and seemed to simmer down. The ki ball disappeared, and his face settled into an arrogant smirk.

"Hmph. So, you and the boy robot have had to come to the shop for repairs huh?" He jeered at Eighteen from over Bulma's shoulder. Far from unsettling Eighteen, his comment amused her.

"Does calling me names make you feel....big?" She emphasized the last word with an appraisal of his stature. Indeed, at his full height, Vegeta was much shorter than Eighteen. He was even shorter than Bulma. His smirk twitched into something uglier.

"What's the matter Vegeta?" She drawled. "Were you hiding out for this long for fear of running into me?"

"Oh please," He snapped back, "you just got lucky last time. We both know that I could squash you down to a circuit board with my bare hands. I'm a lot stronger now than when we fought, toaster girl." Bulma sighed in exasperation, and stepped more prominently between them.

"Honestly you two, you're so similar it makes my head spin." Eighteen and Vegeta immediately glared at her in outrage.

"I am nothing like that hunk of metal!" Vegeta raged, his muscles tensed so tight he looked as though he might turn super saiyan. It was either that, or Eighteen suspected he had constipation problems.

Bulma pushed forward and shoved at Vegeta's chest in mock anger.

"Will you stop with the 'scrap metal' comments? It's not like she's just a robot you know. She was human once too."

Total and utter silence followed her words. Krillin's head snapped up and Eighteen felt as though she'd turned to ice.

"What?!" Krillin asked Bulma incredulously, "What do you mean she was human once? Didn't Dr. Gero build her?" Bulma turned to face her fascinated, horrified audience, but Eighteen interjected before she could speak.

"Yes! Dr Gero did build the two of us, just as he built Sixteen. We are not human. I know there are components of our make-up which are bionic, but parts only. I don't know where you got your information, but it's clearly faulty. You can see for yourselves that Seventeen and I are far superior to human beings." She finished feeling convinced Bulma would simply concede to her. Instead, Eighteen found herself blanching at the look of pity on the woman's face.

"Didn't you know?" When no one made any kind of response she continued. "At first I thought you were just an android like Sixteen too, built from scratch by Dr Gero. The truth is though, Dr Gero took a very different approach when he 'built' you and your brother. I've seen your brother's blueprints Eighteen, which I'm sure would be almost identical to yours, as you have the same design. Those blueprints are designed to alter a human body, not add human parts to an android."

For several moments, Eighteen stood absolutely still as those words simply hung suspended in her mind. Then as they sank in, she rejected them violently. Remember being human? No, she had nothing like that. She woke up one day an android, that was where existence began for her. There was nothing else.

A quick glance around the room showed the shocked faces of Yamcha, Krillin, and to a degree even Vegeta. Bulma was still giving her that genuine, pitying look. She couldn't stand it. She, a human? Flesh and blood and weakness? It was impossible, it had to be.

"YOU'RE LYING!"She shouted, automatically drawing herself into a fighting stance, though it was absurd to think that Bulma could actually hurt her, even if she wanted to. A second later she shot past Bulma, pushed Vegeta into a wall to get him out of the way as she made her exit, ran through the halls of Capsule Corp and burst through the front doors, into the sky. She flew as fast as she had ever flown before, leaving the entire city behind within seconds.

The remaining party in Capsule Corp was left in a stunned silence. Krillin could not describe the feelings coursing through him. All this time he had been thinking that Eighteen was an android, all bolts and metal and computer systems with some human parts. He was in love with her, that was true regardless of what she was, but now he knew for sure that she was _real_.

His head reeled with the possibilities. She was her own person, not just a product of Dr Gero. She wasn't all human anymore, but what if she could remember? What if...she could really love someone back?

"Wow, so she really _was _human." Yamcha said, the first to recover.

"I can't believe they never knew. I wonder why Dr. Gero never told them." Bulma mused.

"Or more strangely, why don't they remember?" Yamcha asked her.

"Dr. Gero's notes are pretty complicated, and his head was even weirder, so I don't understand everything, but my guess would be that when he made Seventeen and Eighteen into androids, he erased all their memories of who they used to be, probably to keep them under control."

"It didn't work though. They killed him as soon as they were activated." Krillin put in. "But....how come you didn't say anything when you got those blueprints?" He asked Bulma. The heiress hesitated.

"Because I knew what was at stake. Even if they were human once, they're not anymore, and destroying them to save Goku and stop Cell from becoming complete was our top priority. I needed to make that controller to destroy them, there wasn't time for should or shouldn't. Whether they were metal or human based was irrelevant at the time." She sighed. "I guess it didn't matter though, you never made it in time to destroy them after all Krillin."

Krillin flinched. He'd forgotten about that. No one but he and Eighteen knew that he had in fact, been there in time to destroy her, but had chosen to crush the controller instead. Maybe if he just didn't say anything...

"Hey, come to think of it, what _did _you do with that controller Krillin?" _Damn._"It could come in handy in case either one of them decides to go wild again, and it would save me having to build another one." Krillin automatically brought his hands up in a guilty surrender gesture. _What can I say?_

"Well...umm...you see I ...I...." Bulma frowned at him.

"What's up Krillin? Just tell me what you did with it after Eighteen was absorbed." At this point, Vegeta let out a short, derisive laugh.

"Better to ask what he did with it _before _the android was absorbed. He was just talking with them when Cell found them, I don't think he even tried to shut her down." He gave Krillin a very superior look. "Looks like baldy here is even more useless than usual when some female bats her eyes at him, even if she's a psychotic cyber-doll."

Krillin was furious and ashamed, a high colour in his cheeks, but there was nothing he could say. The way Vegeta had put it, his leaving Eighteen alive made him look utterly pathetic and weak minded, though it had felt like such a strong conviction. _No, it's different! Eighteen is so much more to me than just a pretty face. She's not what you think, she's not a monster! _He wanted to yell, but he knew it would only make him look even more foolish.

"Oh Krillin, you didn't." Bulma said, very disappointed. "I spent two whole days making that! Two days without sleep or even taking care of Trunks! All wasted!" She finished in frustration, one fist raised. Vegeta, clearly feeling that his experience in this drama had not been a total loss, left the room with his head held high. Yamcha looked over at Krillin.

"Uh...maybe we'd better go head home now huh Krillin?" He made for the door, then turned around when Krillin didn't move. "Hey man, are you coming?"

"You go ahead Yamcha, I'll see you tomorrow."

"What?! Krillin!"

"Just go!" Yamcha frowned, but left Krillin be.

Left alone in the room with Bulma, Krillin's mind was working a million miles an hour. He knew Bulma wasn't in the best of moods with him, but he had to ask it of her, he had to know.

"Bulma?"

"What is it Krillin? I wanna go take a bath and stop thinking about all this, it's been a damn long day."

"I know, and I'm sorry about the controller. I know you worked really hard on it, and I could have made things go a lot easier if I'd just pressed that button, but when push came to shove I just couldn't do it, She wasn't just some killing machine created by Dr Gero. How could she be? We all fought her outside Dr Gero's lab, and they didn't kill any of us, even though we were at their mercy. I looked at her and, well, I saw someone real, not a robot. It probably doesn't make any sense to you, everyone just sees her as a killing machine, but I have to give her a chance." Bulma's gaze softened as Krillin finished, and she replied rather quietly,

"You might be surprised."

Krillin paused, wondering at that.

"Well ah, I wanted to ask; about that information you got on Android Seventeen, do you by any chance know anything else about them? Like who they were before they were androids? Eighteen doesn't seem to know, and I just thought that maybe later, you know, she'd like to." Bulma crossed her arms as she thought about it.

"Not really, no. I know their schematics, and I have a basic idea of the process their bodies undertook to become that way, but there's no personal information I could find. You're welcome to come and have another look at the blueprints though." Despite his initial disappointment, Krillin brightened at the idea of having some sort of a lead, and nodded.

That was until he actually saw the blueprints. His spirits sank as he saw the incredibly complicated drawings on the paper. The notes were written in an untidy scrawl, and every second word seemed to be something he'd never read before. His eyes grew dizzy within the first few seconds of trying to understand it.

"How does anyone read this? I've never seen anything so complicated. It's amazing that you can make sense of this at all." Bulma drew herself up a little.

"Yes well, beauty and brains, what's a girl to do?" She said with a flourish. They sat down, and Bulma gave him quick summary of what the different paragraphs meant, and even then Krillin couldn't keep up most of the time, nor could he see anything that might have told him about the human that was once Android Seventeen. There were lots of interesting things to know about them, and Krillin managed to tune in for some parts.

"Most of the brain was left alone, except for these nanites you see in here.... a lot of these components were actually bought commercially, though not through Capsule Corp of course. I'm pretty sure they were ordered from an old rival company of ours, Viburnum Enterprises. They shut down years ago though, which means Seventeen and Eighteen weren't developed too recently, maybe in the last five years or so...."

It was only when they finally dropped the papers down onto the desk in exasperation that Krillin finally saw it. Once left to recoil naturally, the papers curled up at the edges, and on the back of one of the innermost leafs were two tiny initials penciled lightly into the corner. MV, it said. Just as Krillin spied it, one of Bulma's robotic servants entered the lab, and Bulma got up to speak to it. On a spur of the moment, Krillin decided not to say anything to Bulma, and buried the initials firmly into his mind. He'd research it himself later. In the meantime, he decided to look for Eighteen.

He ran out of the Capsule Corp building whilst Bulma was still talking to her assistant. He didn't think she would mind his leaving. He exited, rose slowly into the air, and nearly fell out of the sky in sheepishness. Where could he even start looking? What sort of place does an android go to be alone? Never mind that, what about just a girl? Damn, what did Maron used to do when she was upset with him? Generally run up to her room. Of course, this didn't really apply to someone without a real home.

He tried to put himself in her shoes. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be told that your entire existence was a lie, and that there was something much bigger before it. If someone had altered him that badly, he supposed he'd want to go and see the person who'd done it to him, to ask them why. Dr Gero was dead though, where would.....ah! That was it!

He sped off in his new direction.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: Herein lies the one discrepancy I made with canon. In the Japanese version of the anime, the androids mention that they are human based, implying that of course, they already knew. However listening to the English version, neither Seventeen nor Eighteen ever make reference to their history, and lots of little comments here and there imply that they disassociate with humans. From this, I gathered that they had no idea about their past, and wrote this story accordingly.

Coppelian - Your reviews make my day every time I read them, thank you SO much :)

I hope you enjoy the flying sparks, Vegeta is great for creating conflict. Thanks to him, the story can really start taking off.

Vampire Cabbit - Your last review confused me somewhat. Trunks didn't make an appearance in the last chapter, and also who is 'old pinkhair'? The only pink-haired character I can recall is Fortune-Teller Baba.

As Krillin Fan mentioned, apparently the uncut version states that Mr Satan's first name is Hercule.

Krillin Fan - Thanks again for your review, I appreciate it. I'd be interested to hear your views on why Krillin fights.


	11. Origins

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Eleven - Origins

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Eighteen arrived at the wreckage at dusk, trembling. It couldn't possibly be true, and yet she knew that Bulma had not lied to her. It made morbidly good sense that she was human. Why else would Cell have been able to absorb her? Why else did she need to breathe and eat and sleep, though Sixteen did not? Why else did her muscles get weak when she fought for a long time?

From the moment she'd awoken, Eighteen had had knowledge programmed into her. She had inbuilt power level scanners and a silent ki signal. She had the fighting history of most of the Z fighters filed away in her head, along with the knowledge that she was an android, created by Dr Gero. The history of the Z fighters that had been implanted in her brain had thus far proved correct - Vegeta, the arrogant saiyan prince who had once worked under the tyrant Frieza. Yamcha, the ex-nomad who had an erratic personality and little enough power to worry about. Krillin, the small warrior who had trained with Goku when he was young, though his friend had long surpased his prowess. Piccolo, the Namekian dark side of Kami, who had once sought to destroy the Earth, but now fought side by side with his rival Goku. Gohan, the son of Goku, who had been trained by Piccolo, fought on Planet Namek, and whose skill was impressive, but underdeveloped. Goku, the man Dr Gero had clearly been the most fascinated with. A saiyan raised as a human, had once defeated Dr Gero and his entire Red Ribbon Army and spawned the all consuming need for revenge inside Gero.

All this seemed to be true, and she'd never had any reason to assume that the rest of the knowledge he'd fed her would be anything less.

Being an android was the only life she had ever known, and it had been a short one so far. _But if we were truly made by Dr Gero from scratch, why did we object to being controlled? Did I want to become an android when I was human? _

The stars were alight when she eventually felt a ki presence approaching her from some distance. She quickly recognised it as Krillin's. She considered flying away, but realised she had no reason to run, nor anywhere left to go. So instead she waited, sitting with her arms curled around her legs on top of the rubble which had once been Dr Gero's lab, which she had once thought of as her birthplace.

"Hey Eighteen." He said very gently as he landed beside her. "Are you okay?" For a long time she didn't speak, and Krillin just sat beside her like back at Capsule Corp.

"Cell's gone, and so is Dr Gero. I had to come here to make sure of that myself." Krillin nodded, and they lapsed back into silence for a while.

"You know, I can still remember perfectly that day when I was first awoken." She began eventually. Krillin did not disturb her, surprised that for once she was talking about herself.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

It was like a light being switched on. There had been nothing, and then suddenly there was something. She was in a red-padded capsule, snug to fit her body. She could see her face reflected in the glass porthole, right before the entire front section lifted itself off her. She had felt strong, stronger than any other force in the universe must be. She turned her head and saw the capsule beside her. Opened similarly, a face just like hers looked back at her. She knew him, though she didn't know how. His eyes bore her exact expression, and seemed to understand her perfectly. He was her twin brother, and there was nothing that made her question that.

"So you're active at last." A new voice had said. She and her twin had simultaneously turned their heads to look at Dr Gero for the first time. The Doctor had appeared well-pleased as he had looked them over, coughed into his hand and begun talking again. "You've turned out very well, Android Seventeen and Android Eighteen." He nodded at each of them in turn. As he said it, Eighteen discovered data inside her confirming the name he had called her by. _That's right_, her brain seemed to say. _You're Android Eighteen, and you're _- "My ultimate weapons." Dr Gero said with hungry pride. "You are the strongest fighters in the universe, and you were built to serve me."

It was these words which had cemented Eighteen's loathing of the doctor. She felt as proud as he did of her strength, but why should the strongest fighters in the universe be the servants of someone so weak? Another glance with Seventeen revealed a mirror of her sentiments, and she knew the doctor had to go. Seventeen smirked. On a whim, he raised his hand for the first time, and watched the electric energy crackle between his fingers. He focused it into a ki ball, then looked sideways at the doctor. Dr Gero tensed, well aware of the silent challenge, but pretended to remain unperturbed.

"Ah I see. Very good Seventeen, your powers are working exactly as I programmed them." He turned his back and nonchalantly walked over to one of his working benches. "I understand that you would like to test them out?" Seventeen turned up one corner of his mouth.

"Good, because I have an assignment for you both, I think you will enjoy it."

Eighteen could not remember the details of the mission. They were supposed to dispose of someone the Doctor was having trouble with, though she could not recall who it had been. What she did remember was that she and Seventeen had made their first stand against their creator on this mission. Somewhere in a city she had turned around at the exact same time as her brother and flung a ki ball at Dr Gero. His eyes widened with fury and fear, but he'd managed to throw himself to the side just in time to avoid it. They had just been raising their hands to the fallen scientist for the final blast when he outwitted them. He had stood up and faced them, a small controller with a single red button in the palm of his hand.

"No! You are mine!" He roared, and the next thing he had pressed the button down hard. A painful shockwave travelled through her body, and the moment before she was shut down she remembered thinking, _Of course. Of course he would have had a back-up plan._

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

"You know Krillin, that's all I knew of life before I woke up again, and you know what's happened since then. I've had a whole life and I can only remember a week. I know that the sky is blue and I can't breathe water. I know that I was designed, but not programmed to kill you and your friends, and so chose not to. I know enough about robotics to have a university degree. I know that I like shopping and beautiful things, but I don't know why. I know that Seventeen is my brother, and I guess he must have been my human brother too, but I can't remember our parents. I don't remember our home, or growing up. I don't know how old I am. I don't know my name."

Krillin put a hand on her back comfortingly. He was wary, but Eighteen did not shrug him off this time.

"I don't even know if I want to know. Kami, I wish I had never found out."

"Hey,"Krillin soothed. "don't say that. Sure, you're an incredibly strong being the way you are. There's a lot of pros to what you have. Women have been trying to find the secret of eternal youth for centuries." She chortled a little at that. "But at least now you know that you really are your own person, not just someone else's creation."

She was still, and seemed to have put away her distress for now, so he dropped his hand from her back self consciously.

"At any rate," he continued, "it might be hard to go back to Bulma's now huh?" Eighteen sighed.

"I hadn't thought of that. With Vegeta there I don't think I'll be tolerated for long, and I'm tired of being tolerated by the rest of household anyway." She scowled at her predicament.

"Well then..." Krillin paused, then seemed to gather himself and begin again, "I mean if you want to get your own place, I can help you find one, and in the meantime you could stay with me."

She stared at him, so he looked down quickly and began rationalising. "There's an extra room, and it's a pretty nice place. Just until we can find somewhere for you to stay, and just one day's pay should be enough to cover the bond money in most places, so it won't be for long..."

"Where do you live?"

"Er...you went there once, looking for Goku, remember? That house on the island?" Eighteen thought about it. Truly, she didn't have anywhere else to go, and she'd better stick close to these people until Seventeen got better, so she could keep an eye on him. Besides, Krillin had been kind to her, and she found herself tentatively trusting him.

"Alright." she said.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

"I never should have trusted you!" Eighteen roared.

It was only her first evening in the Kame House, and she'd already had to destroy the fly-screen door. She folded her arms and stubbornly declared that it was not her fault. Master Roshi's 'accidental' groping of her butt had left him prone on the beach with a couple of seagulls pecking at his toenails. Nobody else in the house seemed perturbed about this.

"Sorry about him." Krillin said wryly. "You should see some of the bruises Chi Chi's given him. It seems to be his greatest remaining joy now that he's old, so I can't promise that he'll get any better, but hopefully he'll realise that you're the strongest woman on earth, and that you hurt."

Staying in the Kame House wasn't so bad. Things were quieter here than they were at Capsule Corp, and as much as Eighteen was used to big cities, the idyllic life of the island suited her just fine. Master Roshi did indeed seem to take advantage of every possible situation, but after a while Krillin stopped trying to step in for her, realising that it was entirely unnecessary, unless the old man looked like he might get seriously hurt, or another wall might get broken.

But that first night, Krillin took Eighteen upstairs, and as he showed her the room she'd be sleeping in, he said;

"You know Eighteen, whatever happens out there, whether you get your brother back or not, you're always welcome to come back here. Anytime you want, for whatever reason, even if it's just for company. I'll be here."

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

"Eighteen! Glad to see you back! Are you alright?" Eighteen felt uncomfortable with Bulma's open kindness, and was unsure of how to respond. She settled for a nod, which seemed to satisfy the woman. "Good. I'm sorry about Vegeta, he's just got a pretty big chip on his shoulder about you. You should be proud."

"What do you mean?" Eighteen asked. Bulma smiled in camaraderie.

"You're the only woman to ever defeat him - well, physically at least." Eighteen smirked back. In the last twenty four hours, her respect for the scientist had increased tenfold, and she was starting to understand why Krillin had stood up for her so quickly.

Eighteen had considered quitting the job the day before, but after Krillin had offered her an alternative, she decided it was worth continuing. Now that she needed to find a place for herself, she'd need the money anyway. Vegeta made no appearance that morning, and Eighteen was grateful for Bulma's discretion.

At the end of the working day, Bulma invited everyone inside for tea again, but this time Eighteen declined.

"Actually, I'm moving out for now." She said. Bulma blinked.

"Because of yesterday? You don't have to Eighteen, I'll keep Vegeta elsewhere, it won't be a problem."

"Thank you," Eighteen said grudingly. "But it'd make things easier anyway. I'll still keep working for you, but I'm going to find my own place until Seventeen wakes up."

"Well, where do you want to stay in the meantime?"

"Ummm.." Krillin murmured as he looked up. Bulma looked quickly between the two, then flashed a brilliant smile. Eighteen felt herself colouring a little, dreading the conclusion she could see Bulma coming to.

"It's only for a few days, that's all." She said flatly. That quashed it.

*

Krillin helped Eighteen gather her clothes from her old room in Capsule Corp and flew them back to the Kame House that night. She mostly stayed in her room or, if it was still light outside when work finished, she'd be outside on the roof or lying on a deckchair. She wouldn't talk about her humanity or it's possibilities, and during those few days in what seemed a paradise, she didn't think about it at all.

When the weekend arrived, Eighteen was ready to move on. She would not become a burden in someone else's household. Krillin went over some apartments available in the paper of East City and West City with Eighteen, to see what she might be interested in. They quickly narrowed it down to West City, simply because she preferred a location closer to her brother. After inspecting several places around Northern Hills, Eighteen finally settled on a twenty-seventh floor apartment overlooking the shopping district, and she was moved in only hours later. It was all done and dusted far too quickly for Krillin.

Eighteen seemed to be cutting herself off from everyone even more than usual during the weeks that followed. She didn't talk about shopping with Krillin, and even Bulma had a hard time talking to her. She often snapped at Krillin for doing the least thing wrong at work, and even started with Yamcha a few times. Yamcha always backed down from her (perhaps a vestige of his teenage fear of women), but grew quite sullen. Krillin suspected her upset was because of the inner turmoil she would not let out, and thus it was finding other outlets. She was beginning to remind him of Vegeta a little, and it was this thought that made him decide that something should be done about it, and so he formed a plan.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

A/N: So not quite as exciting as the last chapter, but still fairly plot related. Androids Seventeen and Eighteen, upon seeing Dr Gero's controller in his hand when they first wake up in the series, comment that "This is how you shut us down last time." So I drew upon that missing moment, and it will become significant later.

Krillin Fan - I agree with you about Krillin totally. I thought what I wrote about Krillin's courage was very similar, but not in so many words.

Vamppire Cabbit - Thanks for clearing that up. I've never actually seen Trunks with pink hair in the anime, but I'll take your word for it. As for Vegeta, in canon he never stops being sulky, I think it's just part of his personality :) With the schematics, Eighteen already knows that Krillin founds them and took them to Bulma, so she'd figure from that that he'd probably seen them.

Coppelian - You wonderful creature you. Seriously, you make me want to keep writing more. After I read your last review I redoubled my effort and edited the next four chapters. I'm really glad you're enjoying this. Ah Vegeta, he's really quite fun to write, he just creates tension wherever he goes, I don't know how he keeps it up all the time. I can't imagine that he feels anything much but disdain for Krillin, and part of him still loves to bully wherever he can.

Sadly no, I haven't seen the movie yet. Being flat broke and not having a cinema around that shows it can be a bummer. I've heard it's wonderfully terrible.


	12. Methods of Comfort

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Twelve - Methods of Comfort

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Two weeks after Eighteen moved out, Krillin asked her to come over for lunch on Sunday. She had agreed in a non-commital sort of way, though she did deem to turn up. She was quiet though, all throughout the morning, and during lunch - a sukiyaki that was Krillin's specialty. Despite all his efforts at conversation, Krillin could barely get a word out of her.

When he finished cleaning up, Krillin went around the back of the house to find Eighteen sitting out on the beach, staring into space. Her face looked carved out of stone - blank and impersonal as the ocean - which it often had lately. Ironically, now she had discovered her humanity, she had never looked more artificial. It made him very much afraid of her.

"What?" She asked shortly, without glancing at him. Krillin took a deep breath in, summoned his courage... and punched her in the face.

Taken completely by surprise, Eighteen went flying backwards and landed about twenty metres out in the surf. Krillin bit down on his fingers in horror, not sure if it was because he had just hit a gorgeous girl or because he knew he about to get really, really badly hurt for it. Certainly, a moment later, a soggy and furious Android Eighteen got back on her feet, a piece of seaweed strewn across her head. Her face was no longer stone-like by any means. Rather, she now resembled a very angry dragon. Roaring, and practically breathing fire, she pumped up her ki and flew at Krillin, punching almost blindly. Almost.

Krillin was a little stronger since training for and fighting Cell, but he was still no match for Eighteen. When she was as angry as she was now though, she was careless, and Krillin was able to block at least some of what she threw at him. She got a few nasty ones in around his abdomen, and she was always on the offensive, but despite it all Krillin found himself laughing.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" She bellowed, redoubling her efforts. Krillin received a smack in the jaw and a kick to the shins for his trouble, but couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face. He was getting thoroughly beaten up, and he was guffawing like a maniac.

They kept sparring their hearts out for almost twenty minutes, until Krillin was so exhausted he simply collapsed on his back on the beach. Eighteen was about to punch his head into the sand when she registered that he seemed to have given up. He was in pretty bad shape, and for a moment she felt a little guilty at what she'd done. Then she remembered that he'd started the fight and glared at him.

"What the hell were you doing?!" Krillin wheezed for a bit, then, smile returning, he replied,

"You looked like you needed it. Do you feel any better?" Eighteen flinched back in bewilderment, all her anger gone. Krillin's chest was heaving, and she was panting from the effort too, she realised.

"Well...yeah."

"Oh good." Krillin said. "Cause I knew that everything that's been going on has been getting to you, and shopping didn't seem to be helping." Eighteen nodded ruefully.

"I guess I've been a bit rude to you lately" She commented. Krillin remembered her pushing him into a wall as he walked by at work once and wondered what she considered 'rude'. She offered him a hand up. He took it, and she brushed the sand off his back. "We should get you cleaned up." They began to walk back inside. "And," She added, "I think we should do this again sometime." Krillin coughed painfully.

"Sure thing. How's next Saturday?"

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Most of that afternoon was spent taking care of Krillin's injuries. On the plus side, Eighteen was in the best mood she'd been in for weeks, and once Krillin instructed her on what to do, she had no problem with helping to put him back together. He had an energy drink, sterilised his cuts and rubbed a salve into his bruises. Krillin tried not to get jittery at having her touch his skin so much, but he rather liked being taken care of.

Come evening, Eighteen was still at the Kame House, and in an effort to see how long he could make her stay, Krillin offered for her have dinner with them. To his surprise, she seemed happy to accept.

Halfway through the meal, which had been a surprisingly easy affair, the phone rang. Master Roshi got up to get it as Krillin was pretty stiff.

"Krillin? It's Gohan. He says he won't keep you long." Krillin took the receiver.

"Gohan? What's up buddy?" He said cheerfully.

"Hey Krillin. I'm doing fine." Krillin frowned at the strange tone in his friend's voice.

"You sure? You don't sound too happy man." There was a pause.

"Ummm...it's mum. She's upstairs at the moment, so she doesn't know I'm calling. But she just hasn't been herself since...you know." Krillin nodded gravely.

"Yeah, I wondered how she was taking it. How are you holding up?"

"I'm actually okay. I know dad's still up there somewhere watching me, but he never really said goodbye to mum, and she misses him a lot I think. She keeps crying. Even when she gets mad at me half the time she ends up in tears lately. Grandpa's been around to help but he has to work sometimes. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming over soon? Sorry Krillin, it's just...hard to handle her alone at the moment."

"Of course I can Gohan. It must be really hard on you both, you only just got him back three years ago and now he's gone again. Look, I'm working for Bulma at the moment, but I have the weekend off, so how about I come by on Saturday afternoon?"

"Great." Gohan was whispering now. "I think she's coming back downstairs, so I have to go. When you come over act like it was your idea, okay? Thanks Krillin!" Then phone beeped it's 'call over' signal, and Krillin hung up.

"Gohan not doing so well?" Roshi asked. "That poor boy, having to lose his father again so soon." He shook his head sadly.

"No actually," Krillin replied, taking his place at the table again. "It's Chi Chi who's having trouble coping. She must just be really stressed out."

"Ah Chi Chi, perhaps I should go over too and give a grieving beauty some comfort?" He suggested a little too enthusiastically. Krillin gave him a flat stare.

"Master, you have no shame." He turned to Eighteen. "So I'll be heading over there next Saturday. I'll go fishing for something to bring over to them in the morning, and I'll be with them all afternoon. I'm not sure when I might be back, it might not be til evening. Are you okay to wait for that?" Eighteen nodded, and Krillin put on a wry expression. "But are you okay if it's just you and Master Roshi for a while?" Eighteen looked sideways at the hopeful Turtle Master.

"Of course. If he tries anything, I still have the roof to break."

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Saturday afternoon approached slowly, though sometimes Krillin thought, not slowly enough. He didn't know much more about comforting women than Gohan did, and that was saying something. Eighteen's problem had been pent up frustration, and Krillin knew he couldn't hurt her if he tried, so sparring hadn't been such a bad idea. For a bereaved woman though, he suspected a fist to the face probably wouldn't make her feel better. Chi Chi liked Krillin, but that didn't mean she wouldn't let him know very clearly if he did anything to upset her. Even on a good day one had to tip-toe around her, he couldn't imagine what the day was going to be like.

When Saturday arrived, Krillin set off in casual clothes, holding a small parcel of fresh shellfish to take over. When he landed, Chi Chi seemed very surprised to see Krillin. Gohan must be getting better at keeping things from his mother, he thought.

"Hi Chi Chi! How are you going?"

"Oh, come on in Krillin, I'm just vacuuming." Krillin followed her inside, and Chi Chi promptly began her complaining about the state of the house.

"It took us until just a week ago to get everything back into shape you know. The walls cracked, the house on an angle, and all the broken furniture." She shook her head disapprovingly. "It's been a complete mess. Anyway. Gohan's been up in his room studying all afternoon, but I'm sure he could use a break, why don't you go up and say hello to him?"

"Sure, thanks Chi Chi. Here, I brought over some clams and sea urchins from the reef - Master Roshi and I collected them just today. Thought you could use some."

Krillin left Chi Chi nodding happily over the food and went up to Gohan's room. No sooner than he'd knocked on the door it flew open and Gohan had dragged Krillin inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Whoah, what's up Gohan?"

"So she didn't guess that I asked you to come? Great! Nice work Krillin!"

"Are you sure she's upset? She seemed fine when she let me in." Then Krillin looked around Gohan's room. His room was clean as always, but there was no hint of anything resembling homework on his desk. Hmmm. It would take a very distracted Chi Chi to not notice when Gohan wasn't studying, but that was the only sign he'd seen of anything amiss thus far. "So where's your grandpa?"he asked.

"He's back in the mountains for a little while. He said he'd check in again tomorrow. Mom's been okay most of today, but I still think it'd be easier having you here for a bit." Krillin shrugged.

"Well if you think so. Maybe we should give you guys a break from each other. Wanna go swimming?" He suggested. The river near Mount Kao was some of the purest water Krillin had ever encountered. It was also home to gigantic, man-eating fish. It had been a favourite spot for the Son family and Krillin for years for picnics, swimming, training and fishing.

It turned out to be a pretty good afternoon really. Chi Chi's condition for Gohan to skip out on an afternoon of studying was that they had to catch a good fish for dinner. They spent the time doing some light sparring, which they soon gave up because, though he wouldn't tell Gohan, Krillin wanted to save his energy for the afternoon with Eighteen. They took a walk for a little while, and Gohan gave him a running commentary on the local wildlife - which dinosaurs were migrating, who was having territory troubles, and where to steer clear from, because of nesting mothers. Krillin liked being out here, he'd always loved the outdoors, and this environment couldn't be found anywhere near the Kame House. The atmosphere was so peaceful, a perfect place for meditation or just getting away. But the quiet was not what Krillin had come here for today.

He decided to liven things up by pushing Gohan into the river, for which Gohan returned the favour with interest. The ensuing water fight lasted over half an hour, and was followed by several races up and down the river. By the time they'd exhausted themselves, the sun was beginning to sink, so they got their fishing in for Chi Chi. The fish had mostly travelled upriver, so it took them quite some time to find them. The man-eaters were strangely nowhere to be found, but they did manage to round up half a dozen mullets. Krillin was not so good at this, as he was more used to spear-fishing, but Gohan seemed to have the knack for using his bare hands quite well.

They walked home at sunset, and Chi Chi asked that Krillin stay downstairs and help to prepare the fish whilst Gohan studied before dinner. Krillin had no problem with this, and helped skin the fish while Chi Chi cut up vegetables. They had been working in comfortable silence for a few minutes when Chi Chi suddenly just...stopped. The knife she had been using fell onto the bench with a clang, and Krillin looked up to see her hands gripping the sink's edge, white-knuckled and trembling.

"Chi Chi?" Krillin asked tentatively. He heard a sob in response, and it frightened him. He had heard Chi Chi cry before. It was not unusual, Chi Chi was a very emotional person. But most of the time her tears were loud and dramatic, often followed by a violent tantrum. But the sounds she was making now had no anger in them at all. At length, she spoke, somewhat brokenly.

"I always start cooking the evening meal... wondering how much Goku's going to need when he comes home. He always eats so much. But he's not..... he's not coming home. He's never coming home. What will I do with all this food? Oh Goku." Krillin had no idea what to do. He wiped his fish-covered hands on his jeans and walked over to her, putting an unsure hand on her back. "I wish they wouldn't fight anymore, I just wanted them home. I just wanted them to come back. Goku's gone, and I nearly lost Gohan as well. I've lost half my family all over again, and this time he doesn't even want to come back."

"Chi Chi, hey," Krillin tried a soothing voice. "You know he didn't come back because he wanted to protect you. At least this way we probably won't have anyone else coming to harm the earth. Gohan might even be able to grow up normally and be scholar like you wanted. You didn't want him to fight, this is his best chance for peaceful life. It'll be okay." Chi Chi appeared to collect herself somewhat. She swallowed a sob, and her next words were less shaky.

"I know. I know he did a noble thing. I just, keep having these swings. Sometimes I'm okay, but sometimes I can't.... I feel like Goku's left me alone." Krillin didn't know what to say.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: Sorry for the lateness of the chapter, I had a bit of trouble with this one.

If anyone was wondering, sea urchin is a delicacy in many places, and you can buy sea urchin sushi in Japan.

Thanks to TANATOSU and Krillin_Fan for your reviews :)

Coppelian, I love the way your mind works, how did you know i love port? It's the only kind of wine I drink. Also, I was feeling extra strong and awesome the other day, I think it was from wearing the Xena boxers you made for me :) Once the universe does assemble us back together, we're just going to have to stay at each other's places for days on end, because we just have that much awesomeness to catch up on. I miss you. Thanks as always for you reviews, they are wonderful.

To everyone else reading this far, please leave me a review to tell me your thoughts, whether they be good, bad or ugly.


	13. Chi Chi

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Thirteen - Chi Chi

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

Dinner was a very subdued affair. Krillin understood why Gohan was having so much trouble, but he didn't exactly have an answer for him. He had never seen Chi Chi grieve like this, she had such a strong personality. He was actually very worried for her. Before he left that night he offered to drop in a couple of times a week to help Chi Chi out with the housework, and take the pressure off her.

Krillin had thought things would be fine with the world once Cell was gone. Trunks now had the strength to free his future, Gohan and baby Trunks could grow up in a peaceful world, and everyone had been brought back with the dragon's wish....or at least, everyone who wanted to be brought back. Krillin felt for Chi Chi. He didn't just feel badly for a grieving wife, he felt the loss of Goku almost as keenly as she did. As well as things turned out, his best friend was really gone. Life went on, but sometimes it had to go on without someone you cared about.

Eighteen had had to do the same thing. No amount of wishing would ever bring Sixteen back. Right now, she didn't even have her brother, and who knew when he'd be coming around again? It was a cause of concern for all involved that Seventeen had not woken up yet. Even Bulma had thought he'd be back to normal by now. Eighteen seemed to have quietened her fears about him, but Krillin had no doubts that they were still bubbling under the surface. Perhaps that night with Chi Chi and Gohan made him fully appreciate that some damage couldn't ever be reversed, no matter how much power you have on your side, or how many people wish hard enough for it. Not everything could just go on as before.

There were few people that Krillin had ever truly cared for in his life. None of those he did had been family. He'd been an orphan, given to a life of monkhood as a baby. Once he'd left the monks, he'd had Master Roshi, though he'd always thought of him as Master, not father. Goku had been his best friend almost as long as Krillin could remember. He was practically a brother to both Goku and Gohan. For a while there, he'd had Maron as well, and she might have become his wife, but that was over now. Of these four people he had loved in his life, two of them were gone from it forever. To be sure, Krillin was happy to be where he was in life, but that night he found himself thinking more than ever how sad it was to be like Chi Chi and lose your family, and then how lonely it was to have no family to lose at all.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

The next few weeks were very busy for Krillin. Though he had not forgotten his promise to find out the truth about Eighteen's past for her, he found his time extremely constrained. On top of working for Bulma five or six days a week depending on the workload, he was also trying to visit Gohan and Chi Chi in whatever time he had off, as well as train and spend time with Eighteen.

Krillin had noticed that Chi Chi was becoming thinner, and her bouts of despair were happening more often. Gohan was studying as hard as he could to get good results on his tests, in hopes that his dedication would perk his mother's spirits. Even with Chi Chi's father Ox King taking care of her, nothing seemed to improve her mood. Krillin found the visits were needing to become more frequent, as Chi Chi seemed to be doing less and less. Krillin ended up cleaning out the ashes below the traditional bath at the Son household a few times, along with keeping up the firewood and sweeping the floors. Ox King tried to take over the cooking a few times, with little success. The whole family's spirits were sunk quite low without Chi Chi to keep everyone going.

Krillin had told Eighteen about the problems at Chi Chi's on the evening of his first visit, and to his great relief, she seemed to be maintaining herself for the moment. As though she knew that Krillin needed her to hold it together right now, her mood stayed relatively even over those few weeks. She came over every weekend, and sometimes a during the week after work, though much to his frustration, Krillin was never able to spare more than a few hours at a time with her. Though they usually trained, sometimes they would just lie about in the sun, or go swimming. Krillin thoroughly enjoyed her company on these occasions, and not just because Eighteen was the hottest thing he'd ever seen in a bathing suit, though that certainly did give him a few dreams which made him blush the next morning.

Though she'd moved out of the Kame House, and always slept at her apartment, Eighteen did come around quite often, and Krillin wondered if she was actually lonely.

She was usually a little down for a while when she arrived on the weekends, but this was because she made a habit of checking in on Seventeen before she came over. She never said anything about those visits, but she didn't lash out at anyone, and her moods were always better after she trained with Krillin. At one stage, noticing his growing stress, she even offered to help him out.

"So what's wrong with Goku's wife?" She asked him one morning before he went over. She was sunbathing on a deck chair, flipping through a magazine.

"Her name is Chi Chi, and we're not sure what's wrong with her. She might be falling into depression." Krillin replied heavily. At the word depression, Eighteen felt a twinge she could not quite describe, and neither did she know why she felt it. Somehow she wondered if she was feeling sympathetic for the woman. Her brow furrowed behind her sunglasses.

_How very human._

"And what do you do to help her?" Krillin was silent for a moment.

"I don't know if anything we're doing is helping her. We're just trying to keep life going at her place. I'm hoping it's just a phase of grief that will pass, but I'm actually surprised at how badly she's taking it."

"Why are you surprised? It's supposed to be natural for people to hurt when they lose someone."

"To hurt, yeah. But Chi Chi would normally never just fall to pieces like this. Some people are just naturally strong-willed. It doesn't mean they hurt any less, just that they adjust to it better. Chi Chi's never done this before, even when we thought Goku was dead on Namek."

"Hmm. Do you want some help?"Krillin blinked at her.

"A...a....are you sure?" Eighteen sighed. It had been weeks since Krillin had stuttered when he talked to her, she had been beginning to enjoy the normal conversation.

"Why not? It sounds like you have your hands full there. If I help sort that out faster, we can do some more training. You haven't had much time lately."

"Um...well sure I guess. Just...don't be too upset if Chi Chi, well, you know, tries to kill you. Depressed or not, she can be a scary lady, and you did kind of come after her husband." Eighteen rolled her eyes.

"That was ages ago, and we weren't even very serious about it. Surely she won't still be hung up on that?" Krillin just laughed at shook his head at her.

"Anyway, yes you can come, just lay low with Chi Chi."

Things were worse than ever when they arrived that day. They found the door open, and no one answered Krillin's calls at the door. They let themselves in, just in case something had happened, and found the place in a mess. There was a clang upstairs, and Krillin and Eighteen both hurried up there to see what was going on. Once there, they heard voices coming from Chi Chi's bedroom, and upon opening the door, they found Ox King supporting Chi Chi by the shoulders whilst she vomited into a bucket. Gohan was at the ready with a hot towel, which he pressed against her forehead.

"Kami! What happened Chi Chi?" Krillin asked, coming around on Chi Chi's other side. Eighteen remained in the doorway. Ox King answered for her.

"She's been like this for a couple of days now. Says she feels weak most of the time, but has these fits of vomiting a couple of times a day. We have to take her to see a doctor. I don't know what'll happen to her if we leave it any longer." Krillin nodded gravely. Eighteen, feeling out of place, wandered out of the room and back downstairs.

She had been here once before, looking for Goku with Sixteen and Seventeen. Goku had already been evacuated, clearly tipped off that the androids were on their way. But then, many of Goku's friends had already fought with the android trio by then, and Seventeen had openly told Krillin their plans to hunt Goku down. It was no wonder he'd known to flee. When they found the Son House, they'd trashed the place looking for their quarry. In the absence of a bedridden Goku, Eighteen had gone through Chi Chi's entire wardrobe to see if she could find anything nice to wear. All the older woman had owned were working clothes and chong sums. Eighteen had scoffed, thrown the garments all over the floor, and left.

She almost felt guilty about it now. There had been no real reason for any of it - they just did what they wanted. Until now, when she was actually slightly involved with these people, she hadn't cared what happened to them. Now Chi Chi - as she thought of her now, not Goku's wife - was sick and her husband was dead, and all Eighteen really knew about the woman was that her taste in fashion was far too traditional.

Looking around the main living area, you would think a struggle had taken place. Eighteen presumed that Chi Chi had been staggering into things once she'd started getting sick, or possibly trying to destroy her own house in a rage, and her family had been too worried about her to bother with cleaning up just yet. She righted a fallen lamp, and brushed away the broken glass of the light bulb. A bowl of sweets had been knocked off the low table and sprayed everywhere, so Eighteen picked them up. She righted chairs, put lounge cushions back in place, and swept the floor clean of several condiments which had broken on the kitchen floor. When the place looked satisfactory again, she sat down on the lounge and waited. She was very good at waiting. With a bratty little brother who insisted on taking the long way to do everything, she had to be.

Half an hour later Krillin came downstairs to find her, and said they may as well go home.

"Ox King made an appointment for Chi Chi to see the physician at the nearest village tomorrow morning. There's not really much else we can do until then. We'll call up tomorrow to see how the results turned out." Eighteen just nodded, and they flew back to the Kame House together.

Krillin was drinking tea in front of the TV at the Kame House later, and Eighteen noticed how much heavier his expression was. She'd seen the shadows in his eyes grow more pronounced for a few weeks now. She supposed he had a lot on his plate. She sat down beside him and poured a cup for herself.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry we tried to hurt your friend."Krillin looked over at her, and smiled gratefully.

"It's okay." Was all he said, and Eighteen left him to his thoughts.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N:

**Fawn of the Woods**, thank you very much for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Yes, Seventeen in still in a coma, and the story moves away from him a little because there hasn't been a change in him for weeks now.

Thanks also to Krissy-Kookla and Krillin_Fan for your reviews, they are all much appreciated.


	14. A Turn For The Better

Summary: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

Lovefools Chapter Fourteen - A Turn For The Better

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

As if having found some sort of confidence in her from the day before, Krillin approached Eighteen on the beach after training that Sunday.

She had been staring out to sea, as she tended to do often when she wasn't training or swimming. Krillin had walked up beside her.

"Hey Eighteen."

"Hey." The softness of the greetings made Eighteen realise they were both feeling sombre for different reasons. Krillin out of worry for Chi Chi, and herself out of something bordering on remorse. "Are you going to Gohan's place again today?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, once they give me a call. But I wanted to ask you something in the meantime."

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering how you felt...you know....about your human past." Eighteen looked at the sea again.

"I'm not sure." She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she thought about it. "I'm not human. I'm as much an android as I was before I found out, and yet ...there's a whole new realm of possibility of who I am that I never thought to consider. I think...I want to find out a little more about what it is to be human, but at the same time I feel like it'd betray my brother to do it. He'd never want to think of himself as human, and he wouldn't want me to either."

Krillin was astounded at how easily she answered him. It spoke volumes for how much closer they'd become lately.

"He doesn't have to know."Krillin suggested.

"Why? What are you getting at?" She asked.

"I just wondered, and if you really don't want to know I won't do it of course, but er.... I was wondering if you wanted me to try to find out about your past." She snapped her head around to look at him.

"What do you know?" She demanded sharply. Krillin put his hands up in front of his face and waved them about, as he often did when was afraid of treading on her toes.

"Nothing I swear! I don't know anything about you! I just found some initials on your brother's blueprints." She narrowed her eyes, still suspicious. "Do the letters M.V mean anything to you?" She shook her head, and Krillin sighed. "Well that makes it a little harder. I was hoping you might have some clue. Everything else on the blueprints was about the technical side of Seventeen's design. M.V was scrawled in handwriting on the back of one of the sheets. I know it's not a lot to go on, but I thought-"

"You'll never find anything from a couple of letters." Eighteen scoffed.

"Maybe not, but if it's okay with you, I'd still like to try it out. Work with Bulma finishes in a few months, and if things don't get worse with Chi Chi then I'll have a lot more time to look around and find what I can." He stopped, and Eighteen knew he was waiting for permission. She wondered why it meant so much to him.

"By the time you even get around to looking Seventeen and I will probably be long gone, but do what you want. I don't mind." She blocked out that small part of her which lit up with the possibility of discovering who she was. The chances of it were so slim she didn't want to try to calculate them. Better to not worry about it if it couldn't happen.

Krillin nodded, finalising it all in his head. He would discover Eighteen's history for her. He wondered so many things about the human Eighteen could have been. Was her personality the same? Surely her love of shopping was a vestige of a girl who had once loved the same. He couldn't imagine Dr Gero adding it as part of her personality. _Really,_ he thought to himself, _everything she likes, and dislikes, all her flaws must have been part of the human she used to be. Dr Gero wouldn't have, probably couldn't have made her like that._

Later that day the phone call they had all been anticipating came through to the Kame House. Master Roshi picked it up.

"Krillin! Come in quickly, it's Ox King!"

Krillin had come running, and Eighteen had roused from her deck chair to see what was going on. Master Roshi put Ox King on the speaker.

"So what's going on? How's Chi Chi?"he asked.

"She's okay guys!" Ox King sounded ecstatic. "She's absolutely fine. The doctor said-" There seemed to be a slight scuffle on the end of the phone. Next thing Chi Chi's voice was coming through, strong and happy as Krillin had not heard it since before the Cell Games.

"I'M PREGNANT! Can you believe it? Goku didn't leave me alone after all!" Again a short scuffle, and Ox King was back.

"The doctor listened to everything that had been going on, then ran a couple of tests on her. He said she's been grieving normally, but getting bad mood swings because of her pregnancy, and made her depression worse than usual. When she started getting sick it was just morning sickness!" Krillin beamed into the phone.

"That's awesome news! So that's it, Chi Chi's fine now?" He asked.

"Well she's feeling a lot better she says, so she's back to her old self-" As if to back up Ox King's words, they could hear Chi Chi yelling at Gohan in the background.

"Get out of those cookies Gohan, you have homework to do!" Ox King laughed good naturedly.

"Well I guess Gohan and me will have to get back in line, now Chi Chi's queen of the castle again."Master Roshi and Krillin laughed in relief.

"This is great! So Gohan's going to have a little brother or sister! Look, we'll leave you guys to it today, but how about we come by next week to see how you're doing?"

"Sounds great Krillin, we'll have a picnic lunch."

"Okay, well congratulations Chi Chi!" Ox King passed Krillin's message along, and he heard her yell back a 'Thanks Krillin!'

"See you guys next week!"

"Bye Krillin, Bye Master Roshi!" Ox King called, and hung up. Krillin and Master Roshi looked at each other, grinned from ear to ear and gave each other a high five.

"She's pregnant?" Eighteen asked, a little dumbfounded. "All that because she was pregnant?" Krillin scratched his head.

"Yeah I guess so. Women are weird sometimes. Still, I'm just glad that everything turned out okay."

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

"You're kidding! We're gonna have another half-saiyan kid running around saving the world?" Yamcha's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard the news the next day. Krillin nodded vigorously, and Yamcha did a jumping uppercut in the air "Yeah! They pretty much won't need us little guys anymore, not if they keep breeding like this." Krillin laughed.

"It seems to be a bit like that now. But Chi Chi's a lot happier at least. I think she just likes to have things to take care of. Gohan's already stronger than his dad, and he's growing up fast. How old is he now, ten? She probably wanted to feel like she was still needed."

"Yeah," Yamcha agreed. "But I think Gohan's actually eleven. You've got to count that year he spent in the hyperbolic time chamber with Goku."

"So when Chi Chi says the kids grow up too fast, you know she means it!"

With Chi Chi's problems solved, Krillin started spending some of his spare time trying to look up the meaning of M.V. He looked through phone books, calling everyone he could find with the matching initials. In retrospect, asking them all if they knew the world's strongest rampaging androids or the mad scientist who created them may not have been the best approach. It would explain why the few who didn't hang up on him immediately had threatened to call the police and have him sent to a mental institution. Krillin felt a little disheartened about all that.

Eighteen, for the most part, did not talk about Krillin's efforts. She was still trying to contend with her nightmares and decide whether it was really worth seeing what humanity was all about. She had been getting by trying to tell herself that it didn't matter who she was, she couldn't change what she was now anyway. Hadn't Krillin tried? He'd begged that magnificent dragon for her to be human again, and even though the beast had the power to resurrect the lives of thousands of people, it could not return her to her human form. When Krillin and Eighteen finally did drop in on Chi Chi again a week later, this fact was brought home to her.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

"So Krillin, who's your friend? I don't think you introduced her last time you were here." Chi Chi asked. Krillin's voice seemed to have left him.

"Well she's um...ah....she's - she's -" Chi Chi looked politely baffled.

"Is she your girlfriend?" She asked. With perfect timing, Gohan popped his head out from around the other side of his mother.

"Oh, her? She's Android Eighteen mom!" Chi Chi's face changed rapidly from baffled to outraged. Eighteen was reminded strongly of Vegeta's first reaction upon seeing her in his home.

"That's Android Eighteen?! KRILLIN! You brought an android into my house? You do remember that this android tried to kill my Goku, right?" She quickly turned her tirade onto Eighteen. "Don't you even think about trying anything here you hunk of junk! My Gohan is strong enough to take care of you, so help me, I'll turn you back into nuts and bolts!" Eighteen rolled her eyes as Chi Chi continued to lay out threats. She was rather impressed however, at how the woman's ki signal skyrocketed when she was angry, almost as if she were turning super saiyan, though on a much smaller scale. She did seem to have incredible powers of intimidation, if not actual fighting strength. Gohan, back in his corner, was for the second time deeply regretting his complete lack of tact. He helplessly tried to get a word in to assure his mother that she didn't have to worry, Eighteen was safe. On Chi Chi's other side, Krillin was frantically doing the same thing.

"I'm sorry."

The words came out low, but somehow they stopped Chi Chi in her tracks, and both Gohan and Krillin stared at her.

"What?" Chi Chi was double checking.

"There was no good reason for us to come after Goku. I'm sorry." And she even gave a slight - very slight bow to the widow. Chi Chi stood stock still, looking as though she was waiting for Eighteen to sprout rabbit ears and start singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. When she didn't, Chi Chi drew herself up tall and proud. She gave Eighteen a nod, then went back to her cooking.

"Gohan!" She said irritably to her son, who was at her side in an instant. "Go wash these roots."

Incredibly, Eighteen's apology had pacified the great volcano that was Goku's wife, and rest of the evening passed rather peacefully. When Chi Chi cheered up again, she started happily talking about her pregnancy.

"I feel like my Goku is still with me when I think about the baby." She responded when Krillin asked how she was going. "Like he's gone but left this piece of him with me. I'm sure it's going to be a boy. The doctor said I need to come back for a check up with his associate who specializes in babies, but he thinks I'm perfectly healthy." She looked down at her belly, eyes shining and hands clasped together as if in prayer, but in fact simply Chi Chi's way of expressing great hope and happiness.

Eighteen looked at Chi Chi then, and stared at the belly containing new life. Nothing created from a plan or put together in a lab, just a baby, loved before it was even truly in the world. It was new, innocent, it was change and a future. It was something Eighteen would never be able to have. Eighteen's body would never change, she would probably never be able to give life like Chi Chi - like real women could. She could live forever, but she could never have her own family, never be a mother.

She found herself looking at this woman she had long ago dismissed as weak and undisciplined and stupid, and realised for the first time how much she envied her.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: So Chi Chi's problems are over, but Eighteen's are just beginning. Stay tuned in for the next chapter - Last Hope.

_A window was open. The light breeze was making the curtains billow, and golden light from the late afternoon sun was touching the white walls gently. On a seat next to the bed sat Android Eighteen, legs curled up in front of her. She was crying. _

A shout out to Vampire Cabbit, and to Far My Fair Ladylove, thanking you very much for your reviews. Without you, I would not still be updating.

Chi Chi/Seventeen would be pretty bizarre, though I really would love a nice girl for him. If you know of any good Seventeen fics, do rec them to me.

And as always, please leave any comments or constructive criticism. They keep me (and this fic) going.


	15. Last Hope

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Fifteen - Last Hope**

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

She was in Dr Gero's lab, a prisoner with no other purpose than to serve a mad old man. She was chasing her brother's voice, knowing he needed her, but never able to find him. She ran helplessly from Cell, never able to run fast enough. He sucked her up into his tail, he ate her alive, her tore her apart. Every time was a little different, but they all horrified her.

Eighteen's phantasms continued, twisting themselves every which-way. She wished Seventeen would wake up more than ever. She wished someone could drown out her dreams.

She couldn't stand it anymore.c

Having failed miserably with the phone book, Krillin tried computers next. He used an internet cafe in West City after work, and even managed to persuade someone to teach him how to use a search engine. He spent about an hour looking up the initials M.V, and searching through the results. He spent many afternoons after that returning to the internet cafe to look up any combination of the initials or the words which might belong to them. It became his new hobby, though certainly it was not a fruitful one.

One afternoon a few weeks after visiting the Son House, Krillin was beginning to think he would never really find what those letters meant. He was thinking maybe he should have asked Bulma after all, she seemed to understand everything else written on those blueprints. Who was he kidding? He was no detective. He was a lot like Goku and Gohan in that respect. He had to be hit over the head with something before he realised it was right in front of him. _Well,_ he thought to himself with smirk, _maybe not quite as bad as those two. _He sighed and lay against the back of the computer chair. Doing this was more exhausting than an entire week's worth of demolition work. Maybe he should just ask Bulma. What difference did it make if she knew who Eighteen was anyway? Probably none. He got up and paid for his time at the front desk, then made his way to Capsule Corp, feeling like a dog with it's tail in between it's legs.

~~~~*~~~~

Wandering through the halls of Capsule Corp, Krillin was thinking back over his results on the computer. There had been everything from Mutant Vampires to Muscular and Vascular diseases. With nothing more than two letters to go on, his chances of even knowing what he was looking for were nigh impossible. He was still going over names and places and obscure diseases when found himself outside the door to Bulma's lab. He knocked on it, and heard a 'Who is it?' from the other side.

"It's Krillin. Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah." Krillin opened the door. Bulma was sitting cross-legged at her computer desk, papers strewn everywhere, and an empty coffee cup next to the keyboard she was typing viciously away at. "Has Android Eighteen talked to you?" she asked without looking up. Krillin was confused.

"What about?" Bulma stopped typing and spun the chair around.

"So you haven't seen her today?"

"Only at work, why?" Bulma sighed. "Well you'd have find out sooner or later. I think Eighteen snapped today."

Krillin felt cold. She had been quiet at work, but he hadn't suspected anything was this wrong. What had she done? Was she okay?

"What happened?"

"She came storming in after her visit today, demanding to know why Seventeen wasn't awake yet. Krillin, I didn't know what to tell her. When I said I couldn't just make him wake up, she ranted about Dende and how his healing powers had woken _her_ up, why not Seventeen? I couldn't reason with her. She took Seventeen away with her to Kami's lookout. I don't know exactly what happened up there, but she just brought him back ten minutes ago, telling me he needed to stay here longer. I sent an employee down with her to hook him back up to the monitors, but as far as I know she's still down there."

Without another word, Krillin bolted into the corridor, his original query forgotten.

~~~~*~~~~

As he neared Seventeen's room, he heard quiet sounds coming from inside. He looked round the open door, and saw Seventeen's body unmoving on the bed. He was hooked up to the machines that monitored him, and his eyes were closed. A window was open. The light breeze was making the curtains billow, and golden light from the late afternoon sun was touching the white walls gently. On a seat next to the bed sat Android Eighteen, legs curled up in front of her. She was crying.

"Eighteen?"

She looked up, a stunned and somewhat panicked look on her face. He'd caught her in a very personal moment, and the pain on her face suddenly made Krillin want to give her all his heart, all the world, just to see her happy again. In three strides he'd crossed the room, and using all his restraint, managed to stop himself throwing his arms around her, settling instead for lowering himself onto one knee and taking one of her hands in both of his. Her hand shook a little, and she nearly followed her automatic response of pulling away, but something about the undeniable sincerity he so obviously wanted to convey made her feel warm, and she returned a little pressure into his hands.

"What's wrong?" He almost whispered.

With her other hand she hastily wiped away her tears.

"I don't know why he won't wake up. Doesn't he want to see me again?" Krillin said nothing. Glancing at the bed, he saw that Seventeen's chest rose and fell, and a steady blip from the cardiac monitor assured him that there was still a heartbeat. Other than this, there was no sign of life from Eighteen's brother.

"I took him up to Kami's Lookout. I saw that little guy who was supposed to have healing powers - The one who helped me. He couldn't help me with Seventeen when I first found him, because he was technically dead, but now he's not, and I thought, 'something has to help him wake up', He tried, he did that same thing again, but nothing happened. He said there's nothing wrong with Seventeen, and that maybe, maybe he wasn't ready to come back yet."

Her eyes were red and miserable as they looked over at the body on the bed. "I come in to see him everyday. I talk to him, I'm always here for him, and there's nothing wrong with him anymore. He just doesn't wake up. I want to tell him what's going on. I want to tell him that Cell's gone and we have another chance to live as we want. I want to tell him that we aren't just creations of Dr Gero, that we were real people once. I want..." She trailed off. "Sixteen is gone. I have no past, and unless Seventeen wakes up, I have no future."

Eighteen could never remember crying before. She hadn't even known she could. She was very good at keeping her feelings in check normally, but Sixteen's death, her complete isolation from Seventeen, and her insistent, maddening dreams had finally forced her to lose that control. The frustration and loneliness she'd been holding for months had welled up and burst out of her in despair when it seemed nothing could be done to bring her brother back to her. She was torn between wishing Krillin wasn't here to see it, and taking a guilty kind of comfort from the man whose hands were always warm.

Krillin privately wondered about Eighteen's chances of speaking to her brother again. It was just as much of a mystery to him as to why the android was still comatose, but at the same time he was pushing down hard on the secret relief he felt. He felt as if he were in a tug-o-war with the black-haired man. Whilst Seventeen was asleep, he couldn't take Eighteen away from him. He realised how terrified he was of the day Seventeen finally came back. He saw in his head the image of the other android calling Eighteen away that day on the country highway, and her turning and walking after him, disappearing into the horizon. Forgetting him. She only needed Krillin right now because she didn't have Seventeen. How could he possibly expect that she would feel more tied to him than she would her only family? It was a bitter thought, and he pushed back at the desolate emptiness that crept in with it. It didn't matter. She needed him now, and he had never felt so needed by anyone. He swallowed down a strange lump in his throat, and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Eighteen, you have a past, you know you do. Whether Seventeen wakes up or not, you have to go on. You have a future, you just have to choose to live it. Life can't just stop. Not even when people you care about aren't there. I doubt that Seventeen would want you to. You're as free as you would be with him here. The road is open Eighteen. It's yours, wherever you want it to take you."

Eighteen's eyes flicked up to meet Krillin's, and they were more open than he'd ever seen them. They were also, he realised, trusting him. His heart surged, wiping away his bitter, panicked thoughts of her leaving and instead uncovering a resolve to be all he could be to be worthy her trust. As much as he wanted to mean as much to her as she did to him, all he could be right now was what she needed most. He tentatively reached his other hand up and touched it to the side of her face. When she did not shy away, he stroked her hair. It was fine and soft, and felt wonderful in between his fingers.

"Come on, let's go. You can stay at the Kame House tonight if you want. I'll buy you some pastries on the way home and make whatever you want for dinner. How about it?" Eighteen looked into his eyes again, and after a moment, nodded once. Like a magnet being pulled away from a metal surface, Krillin's whole body resisted him when he tried to stop touching her, finally wrenching his arms away. He actually had to turn his head away, afraid she would see the feelings that he knew would be obvious in his eyes. Eighteen stood up just as slowly, ready to go at last. Managing to rearrange his face into something more like optimistic friendship, Krillin gestured that Eighteen should go out the door first, and followed behind her.

~~~~*~~~~

A couple of months later, much to nearly everyone's relief, demolition work finally drew to a close. Bulma had been so overwhelmed with trying to keep up with it all she'd been more than a little snappy with everyone. She'd been having to spend all her time focusing on rebuilding and demolition, and little time to spend with her family or on her usual work, which was inventing new gadgets for the company. They hadn't seen Vegeta at all since his first outburst, and Bulma revealed later that he'd taken to training out in the wilderness for days on end.

Krillin continued his internet ventures, but by now had almost given up on ever finding a lead. Eighteen actually seemed content to let it lie, for she never said anything about it.

Chi Chi's pregnancy was going well, the morning sickness passed in two months, and she was starting to put on weight. Gohan was really happy about the idea of having a little brother or sister, and Ox King was able to go out on his ventures more often, knowing that his daughter and grandson would be fine.

When they arrived back at Capsule Corp at the end of the last day, Bulma came out the front to meet them, looking extremely relieved.

"Welcome back guys. Thanks so much for finishing this up for me." Yamcha and Krillin wore identical cheery grins.

"No problem!"

"Now that this is over, I might be able to spend some more time with Trunks. My dad can handle most of it from here. I can't tell you guys how good it feels to have this over with."

"Try me." Said Eighteen dryly. Despite having worked in the same job for the last four months, the dust and the rubble had clearly not grown on her. Bulma just giggled.

"Well how about I treat you guys to dinner tonight then? It might be the last time we see each other for a while. Krillin and Yamcha agreed without a second thought, and Eighteen rolled her eyes at their obvious hunger, but also agreed to come.

~~~~*~~~~

An hour later, despite Eighteen's skepticism, the four of them were seated together in a karaoke parlour. They had started off just with dinner, and Eighteen noticed that with the encouragement of another young and healthy male fighter, Krillin seemed to have a more rambunctious appetite. He and Yamcha went through several plates of fried chicken and dumplings faster than the waitresses could bring them out. A few drinks later and the songs were simply bursting to escape the chests of Eighteen's companions. Bulma started off with a love song by a famous pop star, thoroughly enjoying getting to swish around and dance like one of her idols. Eighteen thought wryly that Bulma's adaptation of the song was mediocre at best, but found herself grudgingly amused by the performance when Yamcha and Krillin began dramatically backing her up. She actually covered her mouth to hide her giggle, though it wasn't lost on Krillin, who proceeded to hog the microphone for the next two songs. One was a slower but no less dramatic tune about the struggles of achieving one's dream, the next was an invigorating, foot-stomping rock song that had Yamcha up on the table singing next to him. While more drinks came in, Yamcha took the next song, then Bulma, then Krillin and Yamcha shared again.

Eighteen did not volunteer to sing at any point, and though Bulma made suggestions to her now and then and tried to offer the microphone a few times, nobody made any real effort to pressure her into singing. Perhaps it was simply because they knew she wasn't the karaoke type, and that she was content to simply enjoy the silliness. Eighteen could not remember trying alcohol before, though she knew what it was and the effects it had on the human brain. She was curious after seeing Krillin, Yamcha and even Bulma down beer after beer, and decided to try it too. At first she thought she would keep pace with the others, then quickly realised how bad an idea that was. In no time at all, she felt her senses dull excessively, which would have quite alarmed her if it wasn't coupled with a pleasant drowsiness. She found herself absently swaying to the music, and even humming some tunes under her breath.

As they neared eleven o'clock, Yamcha drifted off on his seat, and Bulma, having had too much to drink, was having an extended stay in the bathroom.

"How're you going there Eighteen?" Krillin asked when they were alone. His words were slurring a little.

"Mmm." Eighteen replied with a drunken nod. She'd had less than half of what Krillinhad taken in, but was every bit as intoxicated. Krillin looked over at Yamcha, whose head was thrown completely back over the top of the bench, his snoring mouth wide open and drooling. He giggled, and almost unwittingly, Eighteen leaned over closer to Krillin to get a better look and followed suit.

"You humans are funny." She said when her giggles subsided.

"Yeah." Krillin agreed. "Welcome to humanity. Here," He waved a hand like a showman over at Yamcha's sleeping form, "is our finest specimen." They both giggled again, briefly.

"There are better specimens than that." Eighteen disagreed. "You," she poked Krillin in the chest, "are _much _less of a sleaze." Krillin beamed at the comment, remembering that Maron had never made any real indication that she found Krillin's character preferable to Yamcha's. Certainly, Yamcha was a better looking man than he, but up until then he'd never really felt like he'd needed to be better than his friend in some way. And Eighteen had hardly made any declarations of undying love, or even definite preference, but it boosted Krillin's drunken ego nonetheless. It made him bold enough to try to venture a compliment.

"Of course, Yamcha doesn't exactly have much on you as a specimen." He took a sip of his drink just as he finished, to try to make himself seen more casual. "What's he got going for him that you haven't already got?" He wondered as he said it if he was just talking about Yamcha. Eighteen's response unfortunately, was no longer playful.

"A human life I suppose." He studied her face with his brow furrowed.

"What are you saying?" There was a different tone in Krillin's voice too now.

"Come on Krillin. I don't have a ....well... relatively normal life like Yamcha can lead. He can go wherever he wants, could be a hero if he wanted to be. I'm just going to be known as killer, without a human conscience. He can develop and grow old and fat and happy with someone he cares about, I'm not even a person anymore." Maybe because of the alcohol, she couldn't quite keep her voice even as she said it. Krillin actually stood up and looked at her fiercely, startling her with the strength of his reaction.

"Stop talking like that!" He snapped. Eighteen blanched a little, surprised at this tone he'd never used with her before. He knelt down on the bench, right up close to her absurdly beautiful face. "Why can't you see that you have a life and a future? You're not tied to your brother just because he's like you, you could fit in wherever you wanted! Hardly anyone knew what Android Eighteen looked like, they just listened to the radio. You could go out into the world and study or get a job! You could make friends or even...even...." He sighed. "It doesn't matter what Dr Gero did, so long as you still have your sense of self." He looked intently into her eyes, and Eighteen was transfixed. "Why can't you see what a beautiful person you are?" He breathed, so close to her.

"Krillin..." She started to say, but her heart and her breath simultaneously caught as he closed the distance between them, and suddenly kissed her.

For a second, Eighteen's whole world burned.

A second later, she broke away in panic and stood up, completely sober. Krillin seemed as shell-shocked as she at what had just happened, then Eighteen did what she did best when faced with an overwhelming situation - she shut herself off from it. Krillin could actually pinpoint the moment she did it, and knew he'd made a terrible mistake. She was artificial again, and without a hint of emotion she turned away and said,

"I think the night's over for me. Goodbye Krillin."

"No wait! I... I'm sorry!" He begged as she walked out, but she did not turn back. He felt a horrible sensation in his gut, like he'd just done something monstrously inappropriate. When she said 'goodbye' she'd said it like, 'goodbye', not 'see you later'. Krillin stared at the floor, feeling like less than dirt, and when Bulma got back from the bathroom a couple of minutes later and tried to rouse Yamcha, he hurriedly made his excuses and flew home.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: Wow, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I was quite pleasantly overwhelmed. This chapter is a little bit late, I was working extra hard on it last night, and then was too tired to go through and spell check it, so here it is now.

Special thanks to **Ma Vie Merveilleuse**, who is also writing a very good Dragon Ball Z fic, you should check her out.

**Vampire Cabbit**, thanks for your constructive criticism, I hope you liked this chapter a little better.

**Sky Daybreak**, thank you for your review and the 17 story rec. Don't worry, I won't be neglecting Lovefools for it.

Also a big thanks to **My Fair Ladylove **and **Strawberry Tigress **- yes, Chi Chi is very scary, though Eighteen was genuinely sorry. You might be pleased to know that Krillin finally starts making some headway in his searches in the next chapter.

I still have a lot of work to put into the next chapter, but I will try to get it out on time. Thanks again and please continue to let me know your thoughts!


	16. North City

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Sixteen - North City**

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

The first night, Krillin just huddled in his bed, unable to sleep for hours. The world was over - she didn't want him. Work with Bulma was finished, he couldn't just see her in the morning and try to ease the tension. She didn't want to see him again. She'd said goodbye.

Until tonight, Krillin would have thought optimistically about Eighteen still wanting to be around him after work was over. He had managed to become friends with her, earned her trust, at least a little bit, and now whatever fragile relationship they'd had was ruined. He hadn't realised how much hope he'd had hinged on her until he lost it. He didn't even need Seventeen to take her away, he'd driven her off on his own. Through a night of self-flagellation, Krillin finally got off to sleep in the early hours before dawn.

Many hours later he woke again, just as miserable. For a long time he just sat up in his futon, staring out the window. He thought about bursting into her apartment and begging her for forgiveness, promising never to try something so stupid again, but realised she was more than likely to turn him away if he overwhelmed her with emotion again. He thought about asking Bulma to talk to her, but knew that he felt too much shame to mention it to Bulma in the first place.

For Eighteen, probably the best thing were if she could just pretend it had never happened. The problem with that was that they no longer worked together, so there were no more circumstances forcing them together. Racking his brain, Krillin came up with the only solution that seemed at all rational, though it too was an emotional decision. He was not ready to let her go. If there was anything he could do be with her again, under whatever title that may be, he was willing to do it. Right now, the only thing he felt he could do for her was to redouble his efforts in discovering her past.

From then on, Krillin threw himself into discovering what he could. Every morning he would take himself through his martial arts routine, shower, change, and then head off to West City to see what he could find. He searched newspapers, read online, tried more phone numbers, this time asking the vague question of whether or not the recipient on the other end knew a pair of twins, possibly in the their late teens, so high etc. He would return either in the late afternoon or at dusk.

Doing something he felt was useful, Krillin was able to keep the worry and misery at bay, thinking that if he could just find out who she was, then just maybe he could face her and speak to her again.

For three weeks, Krillin heard nothing from Eighteen, and made absolutely no headway on his searches. Finally, he decided to slow things down and consider them. He woke up on a Friday morning, did his morning routine, washed himself, but put on a fresh gi instead of casual clothes. He strode through the living area, ignoring Master Roshi at his aerobics show, and also ignoring his stomach. He needed to fast for a bit.

As soon as he was out the back door, he took off and headed for the mainland. Instead of his usual route northwest, he flew almost directly north, detouring only slightly east. Within the hour, he was flying over magnificent green mountain peaks shrouded in mist. The Eastern Continental Mountain Range was perhaps the most spectacular in the world. It was about fifty miles away from Gohan's house. Here Krillin landed on a mountain top he'd been to before, and settled quite comfortably into a cross-legged position. Far below him, so far he couldn't see through the mist, the deep resonance of a temple gong sounded, underlayed by the hum of chanting monks.

It was a peaceful sound to Krillin's ears, and it helped him relax. He closed his eyes, and began to meditate. It had been a long time since he'd done this, and his mind felt so cluttered he didn't know where to put his thoughts anymore. He needed to think clearly again, and for that, as his old teachings said, one had to empty one's mind.

His breathing steadied, his heartbeat slowed, and gradually, his constantly racing thoughts did too. He had been searching blindly, he realised, when he should have been thinking his search through more. What did he know?

He knew that the initials M.V were scrawled on Seventeen's blueprints, with no explanation attached. He knew that when Eighteen was first awoken, it was in Dr Gero's lab. He knew that she'd rebelled that time too, though unsuccessfully. _Keep going,_ his mind encouraged. _You never know what small detail might be important. _He knew that Dr Gero had tried to take the twins on a mission to kill someone. Someone who lived in a city.

Perhaps that was a hint. Who did Dr Gero want dead before Goku? Assuming it was a capital city they'd been sent to, there were still at least seven cities to choose from. Krillin filed that piece of information away for later. _What else? _

He knew that Eighteen seemed to lead an expensive lifestyle, and did not appear to know a great deal about rural culture, let alone rural eastern culture. Probably that meant she was raised on the western half of the continent, and she might have been rich. He had thought of this before however. It was another reason he'd chosen to do most of his searching in West City. She seemed to fit right in there, he thought maybe she always had. That wasn't enough though.

Eighteen looked as though she could be anywhere between eighteen and twenty five years old. Thinking about her age made him think about how old she might have been when Dr Gero changed her. If she didn't age anymore, then this must be what she looked like about five years ago. That was what Bulma said wasn't it? He strained to remember.

_'...a lot of these components were actually bought commercially, though not through Capsule Corp of course. I'm pretty sure they were ordered from an old rival company of ours, Viburnum Enterprises. They shut down years ago though, which means Seventeen and Eighteen weren't developed too recently, maybe five years or so ago....'_

Bulma's words washed over his head a few times. At least five years ago. Components bought from a company that shut down. Viburnum Enterprises. Was the V for Viburnum? It was worth checking out, certainly.

Krillin finally opened his eyes and smiled, then flew home to change.

~~~~*~~~~

Bulma had had a great morning. Work was beginning to cruise along again, and their profits were doing better than ever. In the last few weeks, Bulma had not only been able to get back to her invention lab and get her creative juices going, she'd also been able to spend most of her time with Trunks. She missed Vegeta, who had been gone far too much lately, but she understood how he was feeling, and was content to let him come back to her when he was ready.

Trunks had walked his first steps the day his grown up alter-ego had left, and she found herself a little disappointed when she found out that Trunks had learned to walk almost everywhere since then, and she hadn't seen it. She was determined no to miss any more of her son's achievements come Frieza, Cell, or whoever else dared to take up her time.

Thus, when a visitor arrived at her house unannounced, Bulma had been out on a walk with Trunks, getting in some mother son time.

She opened the living room door in the section of the Capsule Corp building that the Briefs used as their house, and found Krillin chatting with her mother, munching on a muffin he'd no doubt been given. Bulma rolled her eyes mentally. It was a miracle that she and her father were not obese, the way her mother was constantly offering food to anyone who stepped foot in her house.

"Hi Krillin! What a surprise to see you here." She said, setting Trunks down on the carpet.

"Hey Bulma!" Krillin said cheerily.

"I'll leave you two alone." Mrs Briefs said graciously, though she could not have known that Krillin needed to say something relatively private to Bulma. When the door shut clicked shut, Bulma turned back to her guest.

"So what brings you here?"

"Well actually, I just wanted to ask you something about the blueprints." Bulma raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You mentioned that the parts Dr Gero used were from a company called Viburnum Enterprises. did you know anything else about that company?" Bulma put her chin in her hand and thought for a minute.

"Well lets see... Viburnum Enterprises was an electronics company that specialised in robotics. You could find their products in pretty much any city in the world. They had some ingenious designs I have to say, though they were a little more upmarket than Capsule Corp. Capsule Corp tries to make life more convenient for the average working class citizen, whereas Viburnum was more of a luxury brand, though we did clash a few times. They were quite successful for a really long time, I think they'd been in business as long as us, so their sudden shutdown came as a surprise."

"Really?" Krillin asked. "Do you know what happened?" Bulma shook her head.

"I heard that there was an accident at headquarters, but dad and I didn't think to question it. It was good news for us."

"Where was headquarters?" Krillin pressed.

"North City I think. It was a long time ago now." She focused on him more suspiciously. "Did you figure something out?"

"Nah, but maybe I can now. Thanks Bulma!" Krillin stood, heading for the door.

"Hey Krillin!" He stopped in the doorway and turned around. "Did something happen with you and Eighteen that night?" _Wow. You really can't hide anything from girls, can you? _And as usual, Krillin's highly embarrassed face betrayed him straight away.

"I think I put her off though." He said as indifferently as he could.

"Do you think she's a better choice than Maron?"

That question caught him well and truly off guard.

"What? What does she have to do with it? Look, I have to go Bulma, I'll see you later okay?" And he hurried off before she could say anything else.

_A better choice than Maron? _He thought. _Bulma hated Maron! Of course Eighteen's a better choice. _A niggling in the back of his head reminded him that he hadn't broken up with Maron because he didn't love her, but because he didn't think he deserved her. So if he didn't deserve Maron, how could he possibly deserve a girl like Eighteen? What was a better choice anyway? Since when had he had a choice between them? The thought irritated him for a good five minutes, before he realised with further frustration that he'd been heading in the wrong direction since he left Capsule Corp. Turning northeast, he set off again, deciding to ignore Bulma's question.

~~~~*~~~~

Krillin had never really been to North City. He'd flown over it a few times, but never really gone down to have a look around. The general architecture was different here, a good reminder for Krillin that the world was not split into Eastern and Western culture. Whilst Northern City was clearly more western oriented than eastern, it very clearly had a flavour that was all it's own.

Landing discreetly in a back alley not too far from what looked like the city centre, Krillin poked his head out into the busy streets. Almost as soon as he stopped producing his ki aura, he felt a chill creep in - he was definitely a long was from the Kame House. Far in the distance were impressive snow-capped mountains, which gave a feel of magnificence to the city's cold atmosphere.

Wasting no time, Krillin wandered around, asking a few different people about libraries, and eventually found one. Walking up to the desk, he asked the librarian if she had any newspapers backdated to five years ago.

"I do of course, but were you looking for anything more specific?" The middle-aged, bespectacled woman asked politely.

"Actually I was trying to find out about the Viburnum company, you know. What happened when they shut down."

"Oh." She seemed surprised. "Well that's easy enough, it was a huge event."

"Really?" Krillin asked. "I don't remember ever reading about it back home." The librarian nodded thoughtfully.

"That's not really so surprising. North City is so far away from anything that nobody knows much of what goes on up here. Big news for us might only make a small column on the third page in your newspapers. Anyway, I'll see what I can dig up for you."

She disappeared for a good five minutes or so, and re emerged with a pretty decent stack of newspapers.

"Here you are. Now we have other copies, but we still ask that you be careful with these, so that other people can look over them again later." Krillin nodded.

"Thanks."

Sitting down and reading for hours on end was certainly not a hobby of Krillin's, but he had never found himself so fascinated with the newspaper.

_...Just yesterday afternoon Viburnum Headquarters came crashing down around it's neighbouring buildings. The death count has not been finalised, but the tragic accident was fortunate enough to occur not an hour after 5:30pm, and most of the three-hundred staff were not in the building. Tests are currently being run to see if there was a fatal flaw in the building's design, and investigations are under way ..._

_....Viburnum Enterprises' CEO and owner, Elder Viburnum, has been called in for questioning regarding the suspicious circumstances surrounding the literal fall of his company. The families of the 43 who died inside the building are looking for answers. There was speculation made by several staff members who were fortunate enough not to have been inside when the building gave out, which said that Mr Viburnum may have been going mad in the months leading up to the tragedy. It is no secret that the CEO had known his share of tragedies in his time, though whether or not his mind was affected is unconfirmed. A madman at the helm may have been involved in setting an explosive device inside his own building, though police are denying that any such theories have been given factual credibility.... _

Krillin read on to a paper issued three days later. The suspected CEO had mysteriously vanished, leading many people to believe that he had been the guilty culprit. In the end, police acknowledged that he may have been mad, though there had never been enough evidence to point any fingers at him, and the man had disappeared before charges could have been pressed.

Krillin was about to skim through another article also regarding Elder Viburnum's disappearance when he saw the photo above it. His heart skipped a beat. There was what had obviously been a studio photograph featuring a dignified old man, possibly in his sixties. He had a trim silver beard and moustache, and his face sternly said that he was not a man to be taken lightly. Krillin cast a flickering glance at the caption.

_Elder Viburnum's last public photograph, _it said.

But the man's eyes caught and held Krillin's attention.

They were Eighteen's eyes.

~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~

A/N: Now is probably as good a time as any to make a note on the various locations in DBZ. I found a map of the DBZ world on , which explains quite a few of the various locations we hear about during the series. It looks a great deal like Earth's globe, only without the Americas and with Africa still connected to Europe.

West City is somewhere around Spain. Definitely supposed to represent Europe. East City is in northeastern China. South City is pretty much Sydney, Australia, and North City is in the north westerly regions of Russia.

The Kame House hangs around what is probably either Malaysia or Indonesia, and the Son family reside in South East Asia. Kami's Lookout is in North Africa.

Many thanks to **catgirl26 **for her reviews, I will eventually get around to fixing up the line breaks in chapter 8, and I'm glad you enjoyed Krillin's punching Eighteen. I had enormous fun writing that part.

Thanks as well to **Strawberry Tigress**, I'm glad you liked the karaoke scene and thanks so much for the favourite!

**Ma Vie Merveilleuse**, thanks again for your support, I hope this chapter piqued your curiosity a bit :), and thanks as well to **Krillin Fan**.

The next chapter should be out in two weeks, in which Krillin and Eighteen meet up again, and more about 'M.V' is discovered. Please read and review!


	17. On The Golden Beach

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone, Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Edit 8/1/2011 -** I've had some formatting problems, as my spacers don't seem to be acceptable to this website. As a result, I've resubmitted this chapter using this symbol ***X*X*X*** to represent changes in time and character perspective. I may have to go and fix up earlier chapters for this later on.

**Lovefools Chapter Seventeen – On the Golden Beach**

Krillin had been banging on the door for the last ten minutes, a kind of despair sinking in. He couldn't be sure if Eighteen was just refusing to open the door or if she really wasn't there - it was extremely frustrating not being able to pick up on her ki signal. Her looks and mysterious origins aside, Eighteen's silent ki made it seem like she was not even there when he was standing right next to her, like she was some sort of ghost or apparition. If she hadn't just beaten Vegeta to a pulp that day on the highway he might have believed exactly that.

But now he was trying desperately to tell her his news, and she would not answer. He considered breaking down the door, but found his fist shaking. It faltered as it came down, and he found himself leaning his forehead on it, at length turning his body so his back slumped against the hardwood. For a while, he just stayed there, the piece of paper he carried tight in his fist, terrified as he was of losing it to the winds.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen didn't know why she was here, even now. She felt compelled in a way she didn't know how to explain. There had been no turning point, no epiphany that told her she should be here. So why was she? Something about the walls welcomed her, something about the sounds of the sea enveloped her, and this place beckoned her back. Yet now that she was here, she felt restless. Unsatisfied.

Because it wasn't this place she was here to see.

***X*X*X***

Krillin's feet dropped to touch the sand gently, just at the time of afternoon when the sun gave out its last brilliant spectre of pink and gold hued light on the water. He turned his face into it and closed his eyes, feeling the light behind his eyelids and listening to the calming sounds of the sea lapping the island at low tide.

There was no sound that someone was there, but a shadow blocked the light on his face, and he opened his eyes.

When he saw her face framed by the sun and with something beautiful and undefinable in the expression she set upon him, he was oddly calm. A dream? He felt like it was the most natural thing in the world that they were both standing here at this time, with how much he'd been yearning just to see her again. He smiled at her, and she almost smiled back. He took a step closer, and she didn't move, just held his eyes. He could feel his every heartbeat grow louder in his body, aching to be closer to her. Could he touch her?

"OI KRILLIN! I brought some dumplings over! Let's go - oh. Um, hi." Krillin turned towards the voice which surely did not belong in this dream, only to find Oolong standing in the doorway of the Kame House. The pig was not focused on Krillin however, and momentarily Krillin wondered what he was looking at.

_Click_.

His head snapped back around to see that Eighteen was actually here, and the serenity and romantic atmosphere he'd felt a moment ago vanished entirely.

What had he been thinking? He staggered several steps back from her. Still, she was here. She was real, wasn't she? He had to get rid of Oolong and talk to her alone.

"Uh, hey Oolong!" He tried to fix a broad grin on his face, fighting down his panic and simultaneous irritation at his friend's bad timing. "Just get it started, I'll come in just a minute. Oh Kami, of all people who Krillin would want to witness the grovelling he might have to resort to in order to win back Eighteen's regard, Oolong would have been pretty close to last. Mercifully, Oolong only gave him one sly glance before nodding and clicking the door shut. He sighed heavily, knowing the pig would go straight to the upstairs window to spy anyway, and turned back to Eighteen, only to find her looking away from him.

"Perhaps I came at a bad time." She said, and Krillin's heart went into his mouth as he saw her preparing to take off.

"No wait!" He blurted. There was no way he could just let her go like that. "Please! That night was a huge mistake and I'm so sorry, it won't happen again, I swear." Their eyes met, and he couldn't read her. "Just, forget it ever happened." Unable to look at her for the shame rising in his cheeks, he bowed his head, finding the paper in his hand again. Remembering his original plan, he offered it to her. "Please just look at this. I think... I think I may have found something."

Even though it had been his intention, he felt a pang as Eighteen allowed herself to be diverted from the topic of their kiss, and took the paper. Maybe it was for the best. If she shut him down twice he didn't know if he could take it. Instead he locked that ache away, and tried his best to forget that this was as close as he could get to her.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen didn't know if she'd wanted an apology, she didn't want to think about that night, because it had been playing in her head for weeks now and she found herself terrified of what it meant. Besides, Krillin's ambiguous distraction had her curious.

A wave of something akin to fear iced through her as eyes uncannily similar to her own stared back at her.

_Elder Viburnum._

"Do you know him?" Krillin's voice reminded Eighteen that he was there. Those eyes were familiar to her, and she searched her brain in all its nooks and crannies and almost cried out in frustration when she found no trace of anything about him.

"No. There's nothing." She shook her head. Her voice was steady, empty.

"I'm sorry. I probably could have found out more for you, but I wanted you to see this as soon as I found it. I was hoping you might remember something." He finished on a disappointed note.

Eighteen said nothing, just stared at the article Krillin had photocopied for her.

After a few long moments, Krillin launched into an explanation. He told her about how he'd made the connection to Viburnum Enterprises, the trip to North City, and all he'd found in the newspapers. Eighteen was grateful that he simply took over the conversation. Not only did he give her answers to questions she would have had to ask anyway, but he filled in the silence as she could not.

***X*X*X***

When the sun was well and truly setting and neither of them had moved, Krillin asked her to come inside, hoping against hope that the line he'd crossed weeks earlier would not stop her now. He felt lighter when she followed him, until he stepped in the door and remembered he had a guest.

"Oolong, this is Eighteen. She's joining us for dinner. Eighteen, this is Oolong, the shape-shifting pig." Eighteen barely spared a glance at Oolong, and Oolong did not notice, as his eyes were not on her face. Krillin joined him in the kitchen and cuffed him over the head. Mysteriously, the dumplings appeared to have only just been put on the steamer. Oolong leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to Krillin.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Krillin didn't even feel jittery this time, just heavy.

"No, she isn't." He said firmly, and needlessly went to the stove-top to check the cooking again.

"Hey Eighteen! Long-time no see! How come you haven't been around?" Master Roshi called from the lounge room.

"No reason to come around." Came her reply, and Krillin felt his heart drag a little further through the mud.

"Heh heh, you never need a reason to come around here, I don't mind at all!" Krillin wondered if his master had started drooling a bit, but didn't trust his face to turn and see.

No mention of the article was made over dinner, but instead they bantered as they often had at the dinner table when Eighteen used to stay late. Krillin had to admire her poker face; no one would ever have figured out how much was on her mind to look at her. They talked about everything from Hercule Satan's latest crazy shenanigans (there had recently been a news item that Satan City would be officially opening the new and enormous "Satan School of Martial Arts" within the year, and was now taking applications for membership from hopeful students), to how exactly anyone could put up with cooking meals every day of their lives, to what on earth Yamcha might get up to now he was free. Master Roshi was betting on a long career of baseball, Eighteen decided on his ending up a slave to women, and Krillin thinking that both at once was a likely scenario.

Dinner went on very late that night, and as Krillin was washing up Eighteen drew up beside him with the drying towel. This was something she'd only gotten into the habit of fairly recently, her previous complete lack of propriety in someone else's house had been one of the cues that made Krillin think she must have been a rich girl.

"You have to show me where you went you know." She said. Krillin nodded, without looking up.

"Do you want to take Goku's old room tonight? We can leave earlier that way, and it might take all day or longer to figure this out." There were a few moments in which Eighteen hesitated.

"Okay." She conceded, and in companionable silence they finished the dishes.

***X*X*X***

All day Eighteen's feelings had been in turmoil, and as she tossed and turned that night she didn't even realize that a large part of her restlessness was due to a break in a very solid routine. It was the first day in over five months that she hadn't visited Seventeen.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen was up with the sun, surprised to hear the sounds of fighting outside. She jumped up and checked out the window, only to relax as she saw Krillin shadow-sparring in the waves.

"I didn't know you were always out of bed so early." She said to him as she emerged a minute later. The sand was nice under her bare feet, and the breeze was a fresh contrast to the warmth of the dawn sun. Krillin stopped his punches and hung in mid-air above the water, giving her a smile she could not help returning, just a little.

"Yeah well, I've been training like this since I was a kid in the monastery." Eighteen looked surprised.

"You were a monk?" Krillin peered at her strangely.

"Of course. I thought you had all my history on file?"

"I do, but the files don't go that far back. Dr Gero didn't think to follow you around with his robot bugs since your babyhood apparently."

"Oh." Said Krillin. "But didn't the scars give me away?" He pointed to the six incense burns on his bald head.

"I didn't know that was the symbol of a monk, I thought it was just some sort of tattoo you favoured." She replied unabashedly. "So you train every day because you're a monk?" Surprised by the question, he took a moment to think about it.

"Well no. I'm not actually a monk anymore. I came to train under Master Roshi years ago now. I train like this to keep myself strong, and always be ready."

"Ready for the next threat to the earth?" She asked with an ironic smile on her face. Krillin laughed.

"Yep, that's the idea!"

Half an hour later, Krillin was showered and changed and they were in the air heading towards North City. It was a quiet journey. Now that Eighteen's past was coming up to meet her, she found her curiosity warring with a rising panic. She didn't know what she was more afraid of; getting there and finding nothing, or perhaps worse, of finding something. What if she met an entire family who knew her and of whom she had no recollection of at all? What if this Elder person was related her, what if he was really a murderer? Did that make her a murderer by nature?

**A/N:** Wow, so umm, my apologies. It's been about two years since I updated this fic. I have no real excuse, except that uni got in the way, sucking up all of my time and creative energy. I never exactly put the story on hiatus, I have always known exactly where my plot was headed, I just ran out of the steam needed to get it all done at some point. I further apologies that is in fact mostly a teaser chapter - more plot to come in the next chapter!

I'm not sure how many of my previous readers are still on , but in response to a couple of reviews:

**ZeoUnit** – I promise, I will finish this story, but as you probably noticed in the title, this is only part 1. When it's all finished, it will be a trilogy.

**Ma Vie Merveilleuse** – Congratulations on doing a much better job than I of keeping up with your fic at regular intervals, and thanks for always reviewing mine. I'll try to catch up on what I've missed of yours soon too.

To everyone else who speculated on the mystery of the photograph, good luck with your theories ;)


	18. Brioche's Story

**Summary:** A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer:** Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Eighteen – Brioche's Story**

Krillin approached an aging woman at the desk as they entered the vast, high-ceilinged library.

"Hi" He offered a little lamely. "Do you remember me from yesterday?" She woman spared him a glance between her inspections of returns.

"Asked for newspapers on the Viburnum case?" There was a touch of impatience in the woman's voice.

"Yes, that's right. I was wondering if you'd have anything more on the Viburnums?" She sniffed.

"Quite possibly, but I'm afraid I can't help you today, we're nearing the end of the school term and getting the shelves sorted is a nightmare. Try using one of our catalogue computers, they should be able to direct you to any old articles we might have. Some articles might even have uploaded to internet files by now." She pointed with her pen towards the computer desks. Krillin thanked her and went to sit at the computer. Eighteen beat him to it, sat down in front of the machine and typed like she'd been at a desk all her life. Krillin found himself bemused but unsurprised. _Would an android just naturally be good with computers? Or was it something else about her former life?_ Impossible to tell. Krillin was sure that if Eighteen hadn't been technology savvy when Dr Gero changed her then he would have made sure she had a working knowledge of her own systems at least.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen quickly searched through the library's repository of articles, using the keywords 'Viburnum Enterprises'. Several popped up almost immediately, and Eighteen clicked onto those which had been pre-scanned. The articles Krillin had found turned up at the top of the list, but the incident had clearly had huge media coverage in North City, and there was plenty to sift through.

Many articles said the same things in different newspapers; The Northern Light went into detail about the structure of the building, possibilities for its collapse, the damage to neighbouring buildings and the pall of smoke which had obscured the site for a mile around for nearly three days. The Saturday Messenger talked more about the victims who had died inside the building. 43 died as headquarters fell, a further 33 who had been unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity at the time, and another 108 who had extensive injuries and were hospitalised. Elder Viburnum was mentioned in most of them, but none of the articles really went into very much depth about him.

Frustrated, Eighteen refined the search, looking under Elder Viburnum instead. Surprisingly, an article turned up dated two years after his company's collapse.

_June 17__th__, Age 764_

_After going missing two years ago, the body of Viburnum Enterprises CEO Elder Viburnum has been found. A keen hiker almost fell over it in the snow on a trip through the White Heights. Police report that the body was well-preserved due to weather conditions, making it much easier to determine the cause of death. Although an official release by the coroner has not been made, it has been determined as most likely that Elder Viburnum was shot in the chest…_

The article went on to remind the public of the tragedy and scandal centred around Elder two years beforehand, then speculating about the whodunit side of things. The paper concluded the most likely candidate was a young woman named Brioche, who had loudly decried Elder Viburnum personally after both her parents had died in the Viburnum Enterprises building. No evidence was presented however, and no charges were ever pressed against her. The paper was filling pages by spreading gossip.

***X*X*X***

Other articles dealt with court cases and conspiracy theories. Eighteen paid for printer credit and printed them all. Krillin went back and forth to the printer, stapling articles and sorting them neatly. Then, to make himself more useful, he went through the hardcopy newspaper archives attempting to find anything extra, and photocopying whatever he could find.

When they had gathered a sizeable stack of articles and had seemingly exhausted the local sources, Krillin suggested they examine them in closer detail over lunch. They left the library together and settled a few blocks away at a large, comfortable café painted in warm browns and honey colours.

Eighteen bought a notebook and spent the time transcribing all the names and solid details she could find into it: the address of the collapsed building, the names of those involved, including any information she could find on Brioche, the dates of the collapse as well as the discovery of Elder Viburnum's body. Every now and then she'd distractedly take a gulp of her coffee. Black, without sugar she took it. Krillin kept picking through articles, sipping thoughtfully at the foreign tea he'd chosen whilst attempting to find anything new on the event.

Finally, Eighteen settled on something to do. "Let's go find this woman." She said, pointing to one of the articles on Brioche. Krillin wasn't sure that a woman who had hated Elder Viburnum would be a good place to start, but he had to admit she was the best lead they had without going to the police. If Eighteen'd had anything to do with what transpired here, going to the police could get them into a lot of trouble, especially with the inconvenient oath Eighteen had sworn to Dende. As it was, Brioche was not difficult to find, as she was listed in the North City phone book.

Although it frustrated Eighteen, Krillin insisted they walk and catch public transport to get to her house – flying would have been too conspicuous. Thus some forty minutes later they were walking down a lane in one of the suburbs, where every house was finely crafted from logs of hardwood. When they arrived at what Eighteen hoped was the door to the right house, she used the brass knocker to bang three times on it. A dumpy, somewhat harassed looking middle-aged woman answered the door, and peered out at them suspiciously. She did not look much like murderer material.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Are you Brioche?" Eighteen asked directly.

"Who wants to know?" the woman shot back, looking closely at Eighteen. "You look familiar…"

"I don't believe we've met" Eighteen cut her off sharply. "I found your name when I was looking through old newspapers. You had quite a voice against the Viburnums."

"Is that what you're here for; another journal article? I'm done with interviews. Elder Viburnum is dead, and good riddance to him. I didn't kill him, but I laud the person who did. He's dead; that's all I needed to know." She started to close the door. Eighteen held it open.

"That's not all _I_ need to know. I need to know about Elder Viburnum. I need to know what happened when his company collapsed." Eighteen glared at her determinedly.

"Who are you?" Brioche demanded. "You look…" she blanched. "You look like a Viburnum! Are you related to him?"

Krillin decided a little subterfuge couldn't hurt at this point. He stepped prominently into the eye of the potential storm.

"Yes, but only distantly. Ms Peregrine is attempting her family history, but is finding records of Mr Viburnum particularly hard to find. We were hoping you could share whatever you might know of the man with us?" Brioche turned her stare to Krillin, who tried his best to keep a poker face on. He was sure he coloured a little bit, but he mustn't have outright given himself away, because she followed it up with "and who are you?"

"My husband." Eighteen supplied without skipping a beat. "He helps me take notes wherever I go." Krillin definitely reddened substantially this time, but turned away and pretended he needed to rub his nose to keep from completely ruining the ruse. Brioche raised an eyebrow at them.

"Are you sure you want to hear this from me? I don't have anything nice to say about Mr Viburnum."

"It's fine. I don't know anything about the man, I've been living in West City for the last decade." Eighteen said dismissively. Brioche seemed to consider it.

"All right. You can come in for a cup of tea and I'll tell you what I know, but I have to go out in about a half hour, so that's all the time you've got." Eighteen nodded, and the two went in. Eighteen passed Krillin the pen and paper whilst Brioche's back was turned. Brioche took them to a comfortable and messy sitting room, where a few squashy chairs were set around a mahogany coffee table. The kitchen was adjacent to the sitting room, and Brioche bustled behind the high bench making tea as she started to talk.

"Viburnum Enterprises was a rich company headed by a rich man. Mr Viburnum built the company from the ground up decades ago. I suppose what could be said for him was that he was a good business man; he knew how to maximise profit and give back as little as possible. My mother used to manufacture motherboards for Mr Viburnum's most profitable line in the early years – his household computers. Mother studied for years and won her way into her job through a rigorous and cutthroat system of interviews and on-the-job testing. My father was a just a clerk downstairs, though he was the manager for the front desk when he died." Eighteen elbowed Krillin not-so subtly, and when he shot her a questioning look, she flicked her eyes at the notepad on his lap and back again. Krillin's mouth formed an 'O', and he immediately opened the book and started jotting down things Brioche had said, realising he had to keep up their cover story. Brioche arrived in the sitting room and set down an iron kettle and three mugs. She poured tea for each of them – a black tea smelling potently of something familiar to Eighteen, yet she could not name it.

"So, Mr Viburnum sounds like a harsh boss, but that doesn't really explain the outcry you put in the papers." Krillin prompted.

"True, he was definitely a jerk of a boss – my mother wasn't even allowed to spend New Year's with us if he wanted her to finish something. No, the reason I made that statement in the papers is because I don't believe he was mad like the rumours said. I think he sabotaged his own building, and murdered everyone still in it – including my parents."

An awkward silence followed her admission.

"Why?" Eighteen asked. Brioche looked at her sharply.

"Have you looked closely at the facts? Mr Viburnum blamed his company for his family issues in the years leading up to the collapse – stupid old man would blame anyone but his own conceited self. His company was starting to fail. He was making bad business decisions after apparently having huge amounts of expensive goods 'stolen' from the building."

"Apparently?" Eighteen inquired. "Why do you think they weren't?"

"Everyone knew Mr Viburnum was getting increasingly unhappy with his lot. He was muttering to himself in the corridors, looking at everyone suspiciously, firing irreplaceable staff left, right and centre! My mother said he talked about starting all over again. I think he was trying to cut his losses with the company; sell his equipment and sabotage the company for personal profit. Screw everyone over and still divert the attention from himself.

It would have worked spectacularly – no one had anything on him when the building collapsed: no transaction records, nothing on the security cameras, not a thing. Of course, it would have been easy for him to get others to do his dirty work for him. Mother said he was a member of Enton & Hestlewraithe." At Eighteen's blank look, Brioche explained. "It's an anonymous bank. Very high security. If you want something kept safe and secret, that's the place. Most people can't afford their fees, but even to have a vault with them implies you've got something to hide. If he kept funds in there, it would have been easy for him to pay someone to set explosives in the building without having it traced back to him. Even after he died, the police couldn't get into his vault. Without the access codes, no one can access a vault until the lease has expired. Besides, Elder Viburnum wouldn't even have had to give his name. The managers may not even know which vault is his, and they're under no legal obligation to tell the police if they did."

"But why would he want to destroy his own company?" Krillin asked. "Being unhappy doesn't seem like enough of a reason to commit murder. Why not just sell the company if he wanted the profit? I'm sure Capsule Corporation would have bought them out if nothing else." Brioche nodded.

"True, but I don't think Mr Viburnum's pride would have allowed him to sell out to his greatest competition. More importantly, I think something was going on in that company that he wanted to hide. Something only the total destruction of his company would have covered up."

"And what do you think it was?" Asked Eighteen. Brioche sipped at her tea and stared at her floral curtains thoughtfully.

"Not long before he started deteriorating, a rumour found its way to my mother's ears. The only way I found out about it was through her diary after she died. She heard that Mr Viburnum was looking into combining his robot technology with the human body." She paused to let that sink in. Then she leaned towards them both and said in an undertone, "I think he was running experiments on people."

Eighteen swallowed; her stomach had turned to lead in her body. Pacing her words carefully so her voice wouldn't stumble, she asked Brioche one last question.

"Do you have any idea who he might have been experimenting on?" Krillin was on the edge of his seat, the notepad on his lap quite forgotten.

"Interesting you should ask that. I mentioned earlier that he was having family issues? Well, he was the sole guardian for his two grandkids. Right about the same time he was talking about human experimentation, the kids went missing. They were twins I believe. Funny that, how experimentation often happens on twins, and Elder Viburnum happened to have a set in his own garden?"

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** Thank you very much for bearing with me in the last chapter. I know it was kind of a bridge chapter, but now we're back into the thick of the plot! The delay in updating was that I've been researching canon a little more to get an idea of the timeline and make the story as accurate as possible. I hope you enjoyed the chapter - more on the timeline in future chapters!

Regardless of whether you enjoyed the chapter or not, if you read it, please take the time to leave me a review. I appreciate people who favourite me or add this story to their alerts list, but that on its own doesn't tell me what you thought of the story, and I'd like to take in your praise or criticism to help improve my writing.

So please, leave a review!


	19. The Vice President

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Nineteen – The Vice President**

***X*X*X***

Krillin burst in the door with his arms full of food. He set about Eighteen's sparse kitchen, getting bowls and plates and cutlery, and then serving out the pasta and herb bread he'd brought in. Settling on the couch next to Eighteen, he said gently, "C'mon Eighteen, try to eat something."

Eighteen barely looked at him, but turned to her food and slowly picked up the bowl and fork. She ate listlessly. Krillin speculated that had he served her a bowl of bolts and engine oil, she probably wouldn't have noticed the difference at that point. He realised that it was just the shock setting in, but still worried for her. "We don't know for sure Eighteen. Brioche made a lot of that stuff up out of her own theories – she didn't have any more than the police did on Elder Viburnum. What if he's not your grandfather?"

Eighteen looked at him like he was an idiot. "I'm sure he is." She sighed. "I'm sure that Elder Viburnum had a grandchild with blonde hair and blue eyes, who was raised in North City drinking the same tea Brioche served us today." Krillin stared at her.

"Did you remember something?"

"Just the smell and taste of the tea. It was so familiar to me."

"Well," Krillin continued stubbornly, feeling a little out of sorts. "Even if he was your grandfather, it was Dr Gero who created you, not Elder Viburnum."

"I wonder what the connection is?" said Eighteen.

***X*X*X***

"_That's really all I know of the situation. Someone hated Mr Viburnum enough that he ended up dead and alone, that was good enough for me. I'd really like to lay it and my parents to rest now." _

_To cover up Eighteen's apparent shell-shock, Krillin stood up and thanked Brioche on behalf of both of them for sharing her home and her story with them. _

"_Do you know of anyone close to Mr Viburnum who might have known a little more?" Brioche considered. _

"_No one I've ever met, and so far as I know, Mr Viburnum had no close confidantes. But the man who was vice president at the time would probably know more. His name is Sylvester Birch. He's retired now, living on an estate just east of the city. I don't know how you'd go getting in to see him though."_

"_Thanks again for seeing us, you've been a huge help." Krillin said, ushering Eighteen out the door. _

***X*X*X***

When they finished their meal, Krillin gathered all the crockery and washed up, dried up, and put away the leftover food.

"Eighteen?" She looked up. "I'm going to go home now. I'll come back tomorrow when you're feeling a bit better, and you can tell me then if you want to track down Mr Birch." She nodded, and he picked up her hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Whatever you find out, whoever you were, I'll still be here." He smiled, and a corner of her mouth turned up in response.

"Thanks Krillin. I'll see you tomorrow."

***X*X*X***

Early the next morning, after a sleepless night, Eighteen flew over to the Capsule Corp building for the first time in three days. She felt guilty as she landed, but pushed the feeling away as she reminded herself that Seventeen wouldn't know the difference anyway. Mr Briefs' staff let Eighteen in – they were quite used to her by now, and she strode confidently down the corridors she now knew off by heart which led to her brother. His room was a little colder in the mornings, as the sun didn't really seep through the windows until afternoon, but Seventeen didn't appear uncomfortable.

He lay exactly as she'd left him – the way he always looked. Deep asleep, with no signs he'd ever wake up – a delicate, masculine Sleeping Beauty. Eighteen did not sit today, she simply stood over his bed and regarded him. She wondered what sort of person he had been as a child. He was the most familiar, comforting thing in the world to her, yet still she couldn't remember anything about him prior to the day she'd awoken a cyborg in Dr Gero's lab.

Who were they really? Eighteen realised that with all the she had learned about the man she was sure was her grandfather, she still hadn't learned her own name – or her twin's.

"That at least, I'll find out." She promised them both out loud.

Eighteen was ready and itching to go when Krillin finally arrived around 11am. He had dressed casually, in jeans and a loose white shirt, but had a warm hoodie bundled under one arm to throw over the top when they arrived in the snow-laden, northern part of the continent. Eighteen privately thought his casual attire suited him more than the training gi. It reminded her that he was a man too, with his own hopes and dreams, rather than a soldier living day to day in anticipation of the next battle. In his other hand, he carried the notepad and pen from the day before, with which he'd been doing his best to keep track of the details of Brioche's story.

Eighteen clicked the door shut behind her. "Let's go."

***X*X*X***

The season was carrying on in North City. Even Eighteen was feeling a chill from the dropping temperatures when they landed. It only took her ten minutes at the library computer to locate the mansion belonging to Sylvester Birch, and then they were off again. At Eighteen's insistence they flew, because she had no patience for the public transport that day, and in any case none would go conveniently close enough to their destination. Krillin agreed on the proviso that they were subtle, and Eighteen acquiesced in order to just get on with it.

Half an hour later they landed a few blocks from the mansion, and Eighteen approached the iron gates confidently, though she had little idea what awaited her on the other side. She pressed on the intercom, and was quickly responded to by a secretary.

"Hello, did you have an appointment with Mr Birch?" The woman's voice on the speaker was sceptical.

"No, I don't. I just needed to see him." There was an awkward pause at the other end.

"I'm sorry, but Mr Birch doesn't take casual visitors. Please call and ensure you make an appointment to see him at a later time."

"So he's in then?" Eighteen asked. Again a pause as Mr Birch's secretary decided on how to deal with the stranger's insolence. Eighteen didn't give her the chance. "You have a security camera on me don't you? Just do one thing for me and I promise I'll go away. Send the feed through to Mr Birch. If he sees me through the camera and doesn't let me in, I'll go quietly, but I need to know that he has seen me."

"I could just call security if you refuse to leave madam." Came the voice crackling at the other end.

"You could," Eighteen responded without skipping a beat. "but this way would probably be less problematic for both of us. You can tell him I'm here about Mr Viburnum if it helps."

There was a very long silence, in which except for the unbroken crackling at the intercom indicating the secretary had maintained the connection, Eighteen would have thought she was being told to go away. Finally, the woman came back.

"Mr Birch will see you in the parlour in just a moment. Please proceed to the main entrance and we'll escort you." The gates opened. Smugly, Eighteen sauntered through, Krillin trailing behind her.

"He knows me." She said as she approached the house. "I knew he would have known who I was."

A little dumbfounded, Krillin said, "Wow. That was really clever, and a bit risky don't you think? What if he hadn't let you in?"

"I would have broken in sooner or later. But I was pretty sure this was going to work." Krillin shook his head to himself, amazed at her gall.

"You can't always just threaten everyone if they don't do what you want." Eighteen just shrugged.

At the grand double doors, a smartly-dressed butler bowed and showed them to small room adjacent to the enormous marble-paved entrance hall. The parlour was furnished beautifully, with black-lacquered serving tables inlaid with paua shell, finely-upholstered chairs and a chaise longue. Eighteen claimed a chair and sat in it like a queen. Krillin shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"What's the matter?" Eighteen asked him.

"I'm just, uncomfortable in such a fancy place. Everything feels too pretty for me to touch." Eighteen just laughed.

"Sit down Krillin." And he did, on the edge of another chair. Presently a young woman whom Eighteen presumed was the secretary came striding in with a tray of steaming black tea and three gold-rimmed cups with saucers.

"Mr Birch is on his way." She informed them in clipped tones. "Please enjoy his hospitality until then." She offloaded a small plate of mini citrus tarts as well, then bustled out again. Krillin sipped at his tea and munched on the tarts. Eighteen touched neither.

Finally, a side door opened, and a tall man with a large forehead amplified by his receding hairline strode into the room. He barely glanced at Krillin, but fixed his eyes on Eighteen, and sat down heavily, looking like he was seeing a ghost.

"Miss Viburnum." He seemed to choke out. Eighteen's heart pounded in her chest. He _knew_ her.

"Hello Mr Birch." Eighteen said courteously, giving away nothing. Mr Birch took several deep breaths, patted at his forehead with a handkerchief, then stood again and made his way to stand in front of Eighteen. He loosely held her hand, bowing low to kiss it. Eighteen allowed it more out of surprise than anything else. Krillin looked annoyed, but said nothing. "My lady. I am warmed and surprised to have ever laid eyes on you again. What has happened to you?"

She stared at him for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to say to that. Finally, she decided on a half-truth.

"I can't remember, Mr Birch. I was hoping you might be able to fill me in." A look of concern crossed his features.

"Miss Viburnum, no one knows what happened to you. You disappeared without a trace a decade ago. Have you no recollection of what's happened since then?"

Eighteen hesitated, "I have no recollection of my past at all."

"Gracious be." He sat down again on his own chair. "Not your school? Your home? Your twin brother?" He saw the flash of recognition in her eyes as he mentioned the last. "Where is young Mr Viburnum? Did you get separated?"

"He ended up in a coma." Mr Birch nodded and lowered his head onto steepled fingers.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He drew in a deep breath, as if to summon himself. "Well my dear, you must have a lot of questions for me."

Eighteen nodded.

"Your past is not a happy tale child. It might be best if you didn't know."

"Please." The request came from Krillin, who had been silent up until this point. Mr Birch turned to regard him properly.

"Who is the companion you've brought with you my lady?"

"He helped me get here." Mr Birch smiled.

"Then we both owe him a great deal." He held out his hand. "Sylvester Birch sir, a pleasure to meet you." Krillin responded in kind, careful to squeeze the man's hand as gently as he could and keep his strength a secret.

"Krillin, nice to meet you too, sir."

Mr Birch sat down again, poured himself a cup of tea and took a citrus tart.

"Well, where should I begin?"

"Tell me my name, and my brother's." Eighteen responded immediately. Mr Birch looked stunned.

"Your name is Honey Viburnum. Melaco is your twin." That first piece of monumental information took a moment to settle in Eighteen's brain. _Honey_. The word did not ring with familiarity in her ears, but it did seem to slide into a place in her consciousness in which it fit perfectly. She knew it was her name, not because she remembered it, but because it felt as though it belonged to her.

"Was Elder Viburnum my grandfather?"

"He was. He raised you both from your babyhood. I was in his employ for over thirty years, and spent most of that time as Elder's vice president. I saw more of what happened in his personal life than most, I'd wager. I wish I could tell you that you had a loving, doting grandfather, but it is only true in the material sense. Your grandfather spared little expense to see to your upbringing, but spent almost no time with you at all. When I say you were raised by him, perhaps it is more accurate to say you were raised by the nursemaids he hired for you."

"What sort of kids were they?" Krillin asked. Mr Birch gazed thoughtfully off at the far wall.

"I didn't see the twins very much as children, but I do recall that they were never excitable the way most children are. Both were withdrawn and quiet around strangers, but never hid behind their nursemaid's skirts either. They were largely uninterested in conversation, and I never once saw Elder hug them or pick them up. He was a strict and unforgiving man to work for, and I understand that he was a distant and formidable figure to be raised by. There was no choice in the matter however – they were orphans before their fourth birthday, and Elder had an empire to run. Their father was supposed to be heir of the company before he drank himself to death."

At this, Mr Birch walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a crystal decanter.

"Perhaps a stronger drink is in order?" He offered. Krillin politely declined, still busily writing down details Mr Birch said, but Eighteen thought perhaps the occasion did call for a stiff drink, and accepted. Mr Birch poured a dark gold liquid which turned out to be single-malt whiskey into two glasses, and handed one to Eighteen. He drank most of his in one mouthful and refilled his glass.

"So we weren't very social even back then?" Eighteen had a wry smile on her face.

"Yes well, you two were raised in very isolated conditions as I understand it. You were sent to the very finest schools and always received exceptionally high grades. Elder Viburnum ensured you were both martial arts and weapons trained, as he was very aware of your status in North City, and wished to take precautions to stop others from taking advantage of you. But it was hard to tell if there was any real love in the family. You both disappeared when you were nineteen, and despite Elder's conviction that you were kidnapped, everyone else, including the police thought you had simply run away. I think Elder's pride got in the way of his being able to acknowledge that your leaving might have been his fault."

He looked at her with a gaze that was both concerned and calculating. Eighteen shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember."

"That's a pity. In any case, it was a blow to Elder's sensibilities when you left. He tried to focus on running the company, hoping the police would track down the two of you, but his confidence had slipped. If his own family had simply upped and left him, what control did he really have over other aspects of his life? He doubted his judgement at times and made bad business decisions. The company steadily deteriorated over the next five years. Then in 752, something happened. No one knows exactly how or why, but all Viburnum headquarters collapsed, and a lot of people died. Elder was highly suspicious himself, because the explosion occurred not ten minutes after he left the building for the day, and he was left mysteriously untouched. Some theorised that he set the explosives himself to claim the insurance, because it was worth more than the value of the company by that stage." He spread his hands despairingly. "All I know is, Elder was not himself by the time his company fell around him. That he disappeared shortly afterwards was a strong testament to his guilt, but whatever happened, we will likely never know. You also read of the discovery of Elder's body in the White Alps by now I assume?"

Eighteen and Krillin nodded.

"Well that was without doubt a murder. He was shot and left to rot there."

Eighteen finished her drink.

"What do you think? Did he deliberately destroy all those people and his entire empire?" She asked.

Mr Birch sighed deeply, and rested his chin on his fingertips.

"Who knows? Miss Viburnum, I knew Elder better than most on this earth, and even I can't promise you that he wouldn't have done it. At the best of times Elder was a withdrawn individual, not unlike yourselves really, and he truly seemed to be going mad in the lead up to the explosion."

"What about his claim that he had a bunch of equipment stolen?" Krillin asked.

Mr Birch shrugged.

"It's possible, but it's much more likely that the stock loss was an ordering problem. They happened often enough, Elder just noticed it one particular time not long after the twins went missing, and called it all a conspiracy."

"There was one other thing I heard." Eighteen said quietly.

"Hmmm?"

She hesitated, and when she finally spoke, she did so reluctantly.

"I heard that he might have destroyed his own company to cover the tracks of his own experimentation on humans." There was a dead silence following the question which Eighteen did not ask. Mr Birch looked stunned.

"Miss Viburnum, during the height of his career, your grandfather would not have gone near such things, but in the years after you disappeared, I started to lose track of what he was capable of. If he dabbled in human experimentation, I knew nothing about it. However, there was much that I did not know about Elder Viburnum by that stage."

That silenced Eighteen entirely.

"I'm sorry my lady. I think I've left you with more questions than you came here with."

Eighteen merely swigged the rest of her whiskey in response.

"Do you want to go now Eight – erm, Miss Viburnum?" Krillin asked. Eighteen met his eyes and nodded.

"I'm sorry to have been of so little help to you." Mr Birch said apologetically. Then after a moment he visibly brightened. "But wait! Just a moment before you go, I have something of yours." He strode out of the room.

"Are you okay?" Krillin asked tentatively, rising from his seat.

"No." Eighteen replied flatly. Chastened, Krillin stood a little further out of the way, near the door.

When Mr Birch came back into the room, he was holding a single disk in its case.

"To the best of my knowledge Miss Viburnum, this is your inheritance." Eighteen received the disk in puzzlement. "It was entrusted to me not long before Elder's own disappearance. He specifically asked that it be given only to you or Mr Viburnum. As far as I know, it's a set of codes he believes only you two would know how to break."

"And what would I find if I broke the codes?"

"I believe your reward would be the passcode to Elder Viburnum's vault in Enton & Hestlewraithe's. There you will find whatever it was that your grandfather left behind for you."

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** Well there's a lovely spot to end it! I hope you're all enjoying this possible explanation to Eighteen's past.

Just one quick note for this chapter: Honey and Melaco were the names I chose for Androids Eighteen and Seventeen respectively. These were not randomly chosen. Everything to do with Eighteen's past, I chose with care. If you can guess any of the reasons why I chose Honey, I may even write you a 500 word ficlet of your choice. Leave a review and tell me what you think.


	20. Confidence

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty - Confidence**

***X*X*X***

"So it's been a week huh?"

Krillin nodded over his beer. "Yep. I don't know if she's left Capsule Corp at all."

"Ah Krillin, why do you have to keep going all noble?" Yamcha downed his last swig and gestured to the barman for another. "It was the same with Maron, wasn't it?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on. I know you didn't just break up with her because it 'wasn't working out'. She was a total babe. What really happened?"

Krillin mumbled something. "What was that?" Yamcha pointedly leaned closer.

"I tried to get her a giant pearl so I could propose." Yamcha guffawed with laughter, and Krillin buried his flushed face in his drink.

"Quiet down would ya? Not everyone needs to know how terrible I am with women."

"Ah ha! Ha ha, okay. But seriously, is your height such a big deal?"

"What's this got to do with my height?" Krillin was starting to feel defensive.

"Well, it's a kind of compensation, don't you think? You couldn't just propose to a hottie like Maron, you have to get her some huge gesture of wealth to show her you're worth it. You can't just see if Eighteen likes you, you have to do all this stuff for her first. It's like you're convinced you're not enough on your own." The protest that was halfway to Krillin's mouth suddenly went quiet.

"Maybe that's true." He drank again, emptying his glass. Yamcha had it refilled. "But I actually did try with Eighteen. You remember that night we went out for karaoke? You were drunk and – "

"So were you." Yamcha interjected. "So was she." At Krillin's hard look he said, "I wasn't spying; Bulma told me about it later on, and told me to keep my mouth shut. But seeing as you've brought it up…" Yamcha spread his hands wide to indicate that he was simply helpless at this point. Krillin glared at him flatly. "Anyway, are you really surprised it didn't work? I mean, sure the drink makes you a bit braver at confronting women, but it also makes you _way_ less attractive. Add that to the fact that you pretty much flung yourself on her, and you've got yourself your perfect disaster recipe." Krillin wondered idly if there was enough beer in his glass for him to drown in.

Yamcha patted his back. "Hey, don't take it so hard Krillin. She's still talking to you. Maybe the plus side of all this research you're doing for her is that it gets you back in her good books. You should consider giving it another try. When you're _sober_."

"Maybe it'd be easier if I looked more like you." Krillin muttered. "I mean, the world's littlest monk-boy isn't exactly hot stuff."

"Krillin, you're 31, you're not a boy anymore. And hey, you may be little, but you're the strongest human on earth." Krillin stared at Yamcha. "No, really! I never want to test it, but I think your power reading goes higher than mine now. Maybe you just lose sight of how far you've come because you're always looking at the saiyan boys. And…well, you're different nowadays too."

"How d'ya mean?" Krillin asked him.

"Your attitude towards women changed after you died on Namek. You stopped relying on magazines to look at women and started _talking_ to them. That was hard for me to learn too." He grinned. "You stopped being 'Master Roshi Junior' as soon as you found Maron." He paused thoughtfully. "How _did_ you meet her anyway?"

"Shopping of course. Where you can always find Maron. She'd lost her purse and couldn't buy the candy she wanted, so I offered to buy it for her and help her find the purse. She just kind of kept asking me to do things with her, and it went from there."

"Yeah, I didn't figure you'd be the type to settle down until you already had. I just figured you'd be chasing skirt forever." Krillin shrugged at this.

"Yeah, when things settled down after we got back from Namek, I started thinking about death, and I realised how afraid of it am." He was dimly aware that his tongue was running a good deal more loosely than it normally would, and that this was probably a bad thing, but he just couldn't seem to find the will to stop. "I mean, if I died and couldn't be brought back. I thought about it and realised I would feel like I'd missed out on a whole lot of things if I died with things the way they are. Goku seemed to get all that life could offer without even asking for it, but I guess that's karma telling me he's been a better person than me."

"Aside from super saiyan powers, what does Goku have that you want?" Yamcha seemed genuinely baffled.

"Haven't you ever wanted your own family? To grow up, get married and have kids? You know, the normal stuff." Yamcha blinked.

"But Krillin, we're not normal. We're all fighters. We train, we eat, we save the earth once in a while. I mean, we can fly! Most people never get to try that the way we get to, just cause of how we live."

"Yeah that's true." Krillin grumbled. "but Goku never had to even try to find love. It practically nailed him to his house. It took me a really long time tofigure out that he even _liked_ married life. And Vegeta –" His expression darkened "Gets a family with Bulma without even seeming to like her, and I _still_ can't see how that happened." He took another gulp and sighed deeply. After a moment, he realised that Yamcha was oddly silent, and glanced sideways at him. The other man's face was even more detesting than Krillin's had been. "Sorry Yamcha. I guess however I feel about Vegeta, you must like him even less."

"Cheers to that." Yamcha replied in a monotone, but held up his pint nevertheless. Krillin clinked glasses with him, and they returned to their beers.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen was beginning to feel a little like Bulma herself. Trapped down in a tiny, windowless computer lab for several days, the bin full of scrunched up paper covered in algorithms, her desk covered in many more sheets awaiting scrunching, and a feeling that were she to look in the mirror anytime soon, she would find that her eyes had turned square and started glowing to match the computer screen. The constant caffeine Bulma needed whenever she was working on a major project was absent – Eighteen could stay awake for days – but if all her empty food dishes were still stacked in here they would have taken up an entire wall by now. Still Eighteen busily typed away, attempting to make some headway on the codes Mr Birch had given her. She had not told Bulma what she had discovered in North City, just that she had needed a lab to herself, unconnected to any networks, and that it would probably help Seventeen when he woke up.

Frustration gnawed at her – she had never been very patient – and she could not seem to make any headway. Even the clock ticking at the end of her table was irritating. With a flick of her index finger, a tiny ki ball blew it up. In the aftermath of the mini explosion, the silence was instead filled with the high sounds of the computer screen. Eighteen thought it might be better if she didn't blow up that too.

In an effort to keep herself from going too crazy, she abruptly got off her chair and strode out of the room, bound for Seventeen again. It had probably been almost a day since her last visit anyway.

A few minutes later she was seated beside his bed, watching his chest rising and falling. At first it felt peaceful to be in here with him. She knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was her family, and the only one who might understand what she was going through. But to Eighteen's practical mind, there was simply no getting past the fact that talking to a person in a coma would get her less response than her computer screen. Desperate for some kind of sign from him, she held his hand. She could not remember ever having done that. Not in the memories she still had anyway.

"Seventeen, please wake up." He didn't stir.

"Melaco."

She watched his face with apprehension, looking for the slightest sign of a response to his true name. There was none. Since the day she'd brought him here, Seventeen had never moved. Eighteen was beyond anxiety for him. She was long past patience, waded through doubt, even past the breakdown.

She felt abandoned. She dropped his hand, stood up and walked out of his room, closing the door firmly behind her.

***X*X*X***

Hours later, Bulma knocked on the door to the lab. There was a pause, but no response from inside. Bulma opened it anyway. Eighteen's eyes were fixed on the computer screen, the light reflecting in her eyes brightly.

"You have a visitor." She said from the doorway.

"Oh." Eighteen didn't even turn around.

"Hi Eighteen." She spun in her computer chair immediately upon recognising the voice.

"Krillin? What are you doing here?" She looked a little embarrassed. He smiled a little goofy smile.

"I came to see if you'd like a break from your work? Bulma says you've been at it for a while now."

Eighteen looked from the screen to Krillin and back again. She actually felt torn. For a long moment, she wondered how important it really was that she rush to break the codes. She realised with a bit of disappointment that the only person waiting on her to break them was herself. And, well, she hadn't seen Krillin in quite a while. The urge to have company won out. She got out of the computer chair.

"Sure." Krillin beamed, and Bulma failed miserably at hiding a knowing smile as she walked out.

***X*X*X***

Once outside, Eighteen stopped for a moment to breathe in the night air. She hadn't realised how much she missed functioning as if the world were normal until she had shut herself away. She turned to Krillin only to step back quickly in surprise. His head had turned out to be much higher than she'd expected. She looked down and realised he was about four feet off the ground.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. "You're the one who always says to keep a low profile." Krillin shrugged.

"It's pretty dark out. I bet if we fly above the lights of the street no one will spot us." And he shot upwards. Eighteen glared at the distant patch of sky he had disappeared into, and followed in perfect silence. High above the level of the smog and the city, the stars became visible again. Eighteen found Krillin lying horizontal, drifting suspended in the atmosphere between the stars in the sky and the glitter of the city down on earth. She held her breath for a moment at the beauty of the image – as though Krillin was afloat on spangled lights. He looked so peaceful. She stopped fighting her urge to join him, and flew over to see what he saw.

Turning onto her back next to him, she gazed upwards at the sprawling heavens, becoming calm in the cool stillness she felt up here. The endlessness, encompassing universe made her suddenly feel that her problems did not really matter so much in time or space.

"Do you do this very much?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"First time." There was silence again, and Eighteen continued to watch the celestial drifting. At length, she moved closer to Krillin, til she was right next to his body, almost close enough to feel the rise and fall of his chest. Her heart was beating very fast. She shivered.

"Are you cold?" He asked, turning to her in surprise.

"I don't produce a ki aura when I fly, remember? There's nothing to keep me warm up here." Eighteen was counting her breaths, pacing them, waiting to see what Krillin would do. They looked at each other, both speaking volumes with their eyes and failing to bring the words to their mouths.

Krillin reached an arm underneath Eighteen and pulled her against his body. Heart thundering, Eighteen bent her head into the crook of his arm, and let him wrap her up. For the first time she could remember, she felt comforted and safe. It didn't matter that the man who held her had less than half her strength, and it didn't matter that she was half machine. She felt protected. She felt human, and the feeling was overwhelming.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** Well this chapter ended up being a little sweeter than I planned. I had started on a longer conversation between Eighteen and Krillin, but Eighteen lead it in another direction, and I went with it.

**Meganechan720:** Yes, you were right. I did search for names which might colour-match the only difference between the twins other than their gender. And yes, I matched them up with viscous liquids. However, these particular names were chosen for much more than that.

I chose Eighteen's name first. There are a few reasons I settled on Honey, aside from her hair colour. A very superficial one on my part is that I have associated myself with Eighteen since I was about 13, and my own name means 'honey'. But more importantly, I came up with names for the twins in Japanese as well.

As most of you probably know, Eighteen's name in Japanese in Juuhachigo. The 'hachi' is the part which means eight, and essentially separates her from her brother. The Japanese word for honey is _Hachi_mitsu. For those of you who study Japanese; yes, I'm aware that the kanji is different, the comparison is purely phonetic. There is another reason that Honey cemented itself in my mind, but it'll come up later in the fic. There will definitely be fic written for you if you can guess it – as a hint, it can be found in canon.

Seventeen's name is a little more obscure, but his name was chosen to match Honey. I wanted a dark liquid to name him after, but names like Malt and Brandy unfortunately are girl's names. I ended up deciding on molasses. According to Wikipedia, molasses was originally based on the Portuguese word 'Melaco'. Seventeen also has a Japanese name. It is Kuromitsu, which is a black syrup only sold in Japan, whose chief ingredient is molasses. Kuro, in Japanese, also means black.

Effectively, had I written this story using the character's Japanese names, Hachimitsu and Kuromitsu would have sounded very twin-like indeed.


	21. The Vault

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty One – The Vault **

***X*X*X***

It took Eighteen several more days to break her grandfather's codes - Elder had been a very clever man. Eighteen suspected that the mathematical experimentation methods she'd used, by trial and error over a week and a half, were something embedded in that part of her brain which never forgot anything – like learning to ride a bike, or writing. She didn't remember learning the methods she'd used, she simply knew how to use them. Much like other things she woke up knowing about herself in Dr Gero's lab, such as the exact way to set off the self-destruct device which had been under her ribs until eight months ago, she had once assumed that she knew these things because she was programmed to. Now she knew there were some things she'd grown up learning, and her ability to use those skills had outlived her memory of learning them.

Not that she had done it entirely alone. Bulma had butted in and offered the occasional suggestion (which often turned out to be much more helpful than Eighteen admitted to her), and she even called Mr Birch a few times to get his opinion. Amongst his helpful pointers, he gave Eighteen tidbits of information about her family, whenever she had the courage to ask. She didn't very often – usually the answers were not very nice to hear, and set her curiosity back a notch. She learned, for example, that Alder Viburnum, Elder's only son and her own father, had once been in line for the company CEO. She also learned that Elder and Alder had had something of a falling out over her mother.

Ginseng had been an eastern woman, and Elder was very traditionalist. There had apparently been a huge fight when they announced their marriage plans, and Alder did not live to see the feud entirely resolved. On top of this, Eighteen learned that she and Melaco – who had inherited his mother's raven hair – had been motherless since the day they were born. In fact, the twins had been orphaned just after their second birthday.

Some part of her dreaded going back to North City. She had nothing left for her there. At least, nothing but an answer to the final mystery. Even now the question bothered her constantly. How had Dr Gero gotten a hold of her twin brother and herself? Were they willing experiments, changing their minds at the last minute? Had Dr Gero just picked them up off the street one day? No. Eighteen knew it was too coincidental that Elder Viburnum had been rumoured to have been experimenting on humans right around the time his grandchildren had gone missing. Eighteen had never found a mention of Dr Gero in any cases involving the Viburnum scandal, and the evidence was all pointing in a direction that Eighteen really didn't like; that Elder Viburnum had given his grandchildren to Dr Gero in the interests of science. Even though Eighteen knew what she found in that vault would not make her happy, she still had to know. She couldn't come this far and not have the last answer about her own second creation left unanswered.

As she packed up, the thought of the thanks she owed pulled at her like a mental ball and chain. To relieve her conscience, she gave Mr Birch one last call.

"Miss Viburnum?" He sounded pleased to hear her voice.

"I just wanted to let you know it's all done; there are three passwords, just like you said. The account number was the hardest one to work out, but those tips you gave me worked quite well, and it's finally done. I'm heading in to see the vault today."

She never exactly said thank you, but Mr Birch seemed to understand.

"Wonderful to have been able to help you my lady. Do let me know how it goes."

"I will." Said Eighteen, and hung up.

With irritation, she realised that the need to thank someone would not have bothered her conscience at all a few months ago. Before she had known Krillin; before she had a life lived with a little more compassion. Frowning, she looked at the phone again. Part of her wanted to be alone when she found the last puzzle piece, but it was Krillin who had helped her with the frame of the whole jigsaw in the first place. He had helped her with every turn, and she knew she owed this last part of the journey to him.

She picked up the receiver and dialled the Kame House. It rang. And rang. And rang. Finally, it went to an answering machine.

"Hi Krillin, it's Eighteen. I've figured out the codes, and I'm heading to the bank now to open the vault. If you want, meet me there. Otherwise I'll tell you about it later."

As she hung up, she paused with her hand still resting on the replaced receiver. Right now, Krillin was the only reason she wasn't convinced that being human was an entirely sordid and worthless idea. Krillin had made her realise that whatever she was physically, she still had the ability to choose to live her life as she believed. Before then, she had never considered the option of being anything other than what she was built as. And the other night when he had simply come in and boldly taken her away –that night he had stopped looking up at her and finally just _looked _at her, she had felt that she was every bit as vulnerable as he was. What was more, she felt safe in his knowing her humanity. She smiled, letting the warmth rush through her at the memory of his embrace.

He was the only person she trusted not to hurt her.

She shook her head to clear it of her wandering thoughts. She had something to do.

She eventually found Bulma grumbling to herself as she fixed the gravity room again, Vegeta conveniently nowhere in sight now that there was work to be done on it. Eighteen stopped in and gave her a brief thanks for the loan of the lab, and soon after was in the air headed north.

***X*X*X***

Enton & Hestlewraithe's was an extremely no-nonsense building. Eighteen got the impression that beneath its black stone walls, the facility was much larger than it appeared to be, and that anything of value was likely deep underground. The building lay comfortably nestled between huge skyscrapers housing public servants, with a few cafes at street level. For all her inhuman strength, and even with the knowledge that no human security system could hold her back, Eighteen walked through the tall iron gates with great trepidation.

The main doors were huge and made of hardwood, no glass in the doors or windows to break in through. It was sparsely furnished too – aside from the counter there were a few chairs near the door, large, engraved letters above the desk with the company name on it – just in case you weren't entirely sure where you were – and an elevator next to the far left corner of the room. Eighteen approached the counter, where two men in black, apparently padded suits stood waiting. She suspected the padidng was a bullet-proof vest.

"Account number?" asked the one closest to her. No smile, no indication that she was a customer. This was not the service industry; it was a centre of security. Eighteen told them the number, which was typed onto the receptionist's computer.

"Passcodes?" The screen was swivelled to face her, and a panel opened up in the counter to allow keyboard access. Three spaces were provided for the three different passcodes. All three had to be correct to allow entry. One by one, Eighteen typed in three different ten-character passcodes. She paused only a moment, then hit the enter key. The screen was swivelled back to the receptionist. After a moment, he gave a curt nod, and with one hand gestured across the room.

"Our elevator will automatically take you to your vault, which is being electronically unlocked as we speak."

"Then how do you stop anyone else down there getting in?" She asked dryly.

"There's only one elevator. Only one vault at a time may be unlocked." Eighteen nodded her acknowledgement, and got into the elevator.

It was a long ride. She became aware that the pulling and pushing sensations in the elevator meant that it wasn't just an up and down trip; this one was going horizontally as well. By the time she arrived the only thing she was certain about was that this vault was very, very far below the ground.

The doors opened to a small entryway, which lead to one thick, steel door. Eighteen pulled at the handle, and it swung open easily. It was a white room, only a couple of meters square, with a single table in the middle of it. And sitting atop the table was a simple, black briefcase. Eighteen felt a bit deflated. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find, she just assumed that whatever it was might have been bigger. She lifted the briefcase, and found that it was heavy. She set it back down on the table and gingerly undid the clasps. As she lifted the lid, she saw two things stacked neatly next to one another; several hundred thousand zeni in cash notes – which she was unsurprised to find – and an enormous leather-bound book. The only thing written on the cover of the book said in large, silver-embossed letters, 'Diary'.

Eighteen looked at the book with longing. She thought of the hours-long flight it was back to her apartment in West City, or the Kame House even further away. She didn't think she could wait that long. Carefully as she possibly could, she lifted the book out of the briefcase and rested it on the table.

With a creaking sound, she opened the leather cover, and began reading the years-kept diary of her deceased grandfather. She found that his penmanship was elegant, and his writing style always rather formal, a bit like the way Mr Birch spoke. She could picture her grandfather sitting down to write his entries – still in a grey, pressed suit after a long day, and he must have used a gold-tipped fountain pen, perhaps a glass of chilled scotch beside him on his writing desk. In her excitement, Eighteen skimmed many entries pertaining to Viburnum Enterprises, and read meticulously anything she found about his family.

_June 23rd, Age 736 _

_Alder brought a woman home today. He has spoken of her many times before, but today we finally met. I admit I am always sceptical of things regarding my only child, but perhaps this is just over-protection. He does seem to have done well with this woman, despite her being a foreigner. Her name is Ginseng, or Gin, as she likes my son to call her. She is a very polite woman, though she is carefree and vibrant in her manner. They tell me they often train together. She is an Eastern woman, and tells me that the martial arts are a strong part of her culture. Alder, also having been personally trained by a Northern master at my request almost since birth, tells me he thoroughly enjoys contrasting their two styles. No doubt they make a formidable pair. Alder is completely besotted by her, inappropriately so. He told me in confidence after he had taken her home to her apartment that he was considering proposing to her. I have told him to take his time in his consideration - a man in his position will have little time for family. He has the entire Viburnum empire to run. Though Ginseng is a lovely woman, she is not well-educated like Alder. She will not be able to contribute to a company which deals in robotics. Alder tells me it doesn't matter if they do not share everything, some differences will be fine. I think it is too great a part of his life to exclude her from, that she will not be happy, but naturally my son does not share my opinion. He is young yet, and at the height of bliss. It should be expected that he will not think rationally for now. Give it time, and I'm sure he will see my point._

_November 12th, Age 736 _

_My son announced his engagement plans to me at dinner today. Levelheadedness has clearly not kicked in, am I sorry to say. He has been lacking in his work of late as well, on account of his regular liaisons with Ginseng. It is plain to me now that the boy cannot see beyond the shining glory that he considers her to be. How am I to leave the family company in the hands of a boy who throws his life away for a pretty skirt? He will lay it to waste. I am also sorry to say I made an issue of it in front of Ginseng. Alder is furious with me, and tells me that if I will not condone his marriage on account of the company, then perhaps I should choose another executive to inherit the title of CEO. I am most disturbed by his blasé attitude to throwing away his inheritance. We parted on rather estranged terms, and Ginseng was obviously very upset at the distress she believes she has caused. I regret my brashness, but the words still needed to be said. I sincerely hope my son does not end up throwing away everything he has worked on for so many years. _

Eighteen was gradually feeling more and more let down. Mr Birch had not exaggerated her grandfather at all by the looks of it. Not only was the number of entries about the company much greater in number than those about his family, the few entries he did write about them did not endear him much.

_May 26th, Age 737 _

_Alder's wedding took place today. I cannot tear him away from this woman. To be fair, she is a marvellous creature, and she does take very good care of him. Though the fate of the company is still uncertain, I have come to realise that I must accept Ginseng's role in his life. For today at least, I am truly happy for them. Ginseng has no family of her own anymore, so she walked alone down the aisle. They are now on their honeymoon, and I will try my best to be happy for them. There will be time enough to discuss Viburnum Enterprises later. _

There were many entries about the state of the company after this, including several discussing the problems arising from the up and coming Capsule Corporation, Very little discussed his family, until a year later, when Ginseng was due to give birth. Elder did not appear to have kept in touch with his son for the most part, as there was scarcely a mention of her pregnancy at all.

_June 14th, Age 738_

_Today of all days, when it should have been a wonderful day, there has instead been tragedy. Ginseng was due to give birth. Alder told me she was carrying twins. He has been at the hospital with her the whole time. For my part, I was working late on the new line of security cameras, trying to keep ahead of my deadline. Besides, I have never felt that a maternity ward is a place for men. Ginseng was suffering, however. There have been complications in the delivery, and Ginseng was only conscious for an hour after the babies were born. She named them both, Honey for the girl and elder, and Melaco for the boy. They were born twenty minutes apart. She was soon after transferred to the emergency room. She was there for four hours, before the doctors pronounced her dead. She was only twenty five years old. Alder is devastated, and has barely been able to talk to me. Indeed, it was only by the suggestion of the nurses that he might need to speak with someone else who could help him. The hospital has provided my grandchildren with wet nurses, and they appear to be perfectly healthy, but now without a mother. I will need to help provide these children with their own nurses, as Alder will not be able to raise them alone. _

_October 7th, Age 738 _

_I have now had to take matters into my own hands. The nurses are doing their jobs perfectly well, but Alder most obviously is not. As the nurses answer to me, they have steadily filled me in on the status of my son. Things have only become worse since Ginseng's funeral. He has hollowed out, and does not seem to see the children at all. He taken to the bottle, and no amount of pressure from the nurses has persuaded him to even moderate it. I realised that I had no other choice but to intervene. I have taken custody of Honey and Melaco, where they will be properly cared for. I have given them a wing in my house, and I have all manner of staff to attend to them when I am busy. I have told my son that his children will be returned to his care, but only when they have a father who can take care of them. In the meantime, he is to pick up life and get up out of his stupor. I am hoping that being bereft of his only remaining link to Ginseng will be incentive enough to improve his situation, in order to retrieve them. _

_June 16th, Age 740 _

_Honey and Melaco, my heart is burdened to say, are now orphans. Alder, my only son, has drunk himself to death. My hand shakes as I write this most difficult of entries. I can barely think clearly at this moment. My only son was found dead in the graveyard yesterday morning, leaning against Ginseng's gravestone. An empty bottle of spirits was found beside him, and he was soon pronounced deceased by means of alcohol poisoning. I feel I have failed my son in so many ways. I wonder if somehow things might have been different if I had not looked down upon his relationship with the woman he so obviously cared for more than his own life. His attachment perhaps, was even greater than I gave it credit for because of the loss of his mother when he was only twelve. The women in our family seem to suffer terrible fates. I only hope that Honey will have greater luck than her ancestors. She and Melaco have barely known their father. Indeed, father and children have hardly known the other existed, though it was not my will that it turned out that way. I wish now more than ever that I had made more time to help him when he was most in need. Aside from me, his children are alone now. _

For years, Elder wrote little about Honey and Melaco. He noted the things they were studying every once in a while; as with his son, Elder had hired a martial arts master of the Northern style to teach both twins privately from the youngest possible age. His reasoning was that two children of such an influential family would have many enemies, and he wished to take precautions against anyone trying to attack them. He had given the two of them plenty of extra-curricular things to study, especially when they were younger, but it was clear to Eighteen that from Elder's entries, the vast majority of his time had been spent away from his grandchildren. In fact, the next entry to really catch Eighteen's notice wasn't until thirteen years later.

_April 29th, Age 753 _

_I am frustrated with Melaco. He is already in a great deal of trouble with his teachers again, this time for experimenting with fire in science class. He is a mischievous fifteen year-old, and irritates his teachers all the more so that despite his complete lack of attention, he near tops his class, only second to his sister. In many respects, he is a great student. According to his teachers he is clearly admired among his classmates, but he does not speak highly of any of the children at his school. Honey is very similar. She is top of her class, and no doubt the extra-curricular education in robotic science helps her greatly, but she does not care much for the other children. Outwardly popular as they seem to be, I do not think they are close to anyone but each other. Neither twin has ever brought a friend home. _

_In other news, I have recently acquired a new associate. He is a man who runs a private firm, though he does not talk about it much. I believe he experiments for his own pleasure, rather than for profit. I admire this about an inventor. The man has a brilliant mind; he has ideas that have on occasion intimidated me. I met him recently at a demonstration of the company's latest robot models, and he was terribly flattering of my work. He now drops in once every week or so, and we swap ideas. He tells me he now buys all his parts from me, as he believes they are a superior make. The acquaintance seems to serve us both well; already I have made improvements to several security alarm bots I have been working on. The fellow's name is Dr Gero. _

_Honey and Melaco walked in on the two of us at work the other day, so I introduced them. Dr Gero seemed to find them fascinating. He asked them their names, and if they were twins. They did not respond well, and I shooed them out of the room quickly, with a stern reminder that they are not to interrupt me when I am working. Dr Gero seems a lonely man. He tells me he is not married, and I assume he has no children of his own. I look forward to continuing my acquaintance with him. _

As Eighteen abruptly snapped the book shut, she felt herself shaking. She was deeply disturbed by what she had read so far. She did not want to believe that her grandfather had played a part in what Dr Gero had done to her, but the evidence was beginning to stack up. They had been associates. Even friends. She had to get out of here.

Packing up the briefcase, Eighteen closed the vault door behind her, and rode the elevator to the surface again.

She strode outside. She wanted to get out of North City quickly, and take her time condemning herself to knowing her fate. She noticed nothing unusual as she strode out into the street, but she had only made it three metres past the gates when a horrifyingly familiar pain washed over her. In the next second, she had dropped the briefcase and collapsed on the ground, unconscious before she even landed.

She never saw who had used the controller on her.

***X*X*X***

A/N: I'll get to timelines soon, I promise, but in the meantime, more on character names.

In keeping with the theme of Dragon Ball Z, every name is a pun of some sort.

The Viburnums are named after trees. Elder, Alder and Birch (even though he's not part of the family) are all trees. I was originally going to name Alder Ash, but realised it was going to look too much like a nod to the Pokemon character. Viburnum is a scientific name for a particular family of shrubs.

The silver birch is actually a favourite tree of mine. Mr Birch's first name is Sylvester because it was the closest name to 'Silver' I could think of.

Ginseng is a kind of tea made in Korea. I chose this for several reasons. For one it is meant to imply Ginseng's Asian background. When her children were born, she named them after liquids, as she was. There is even a pun in her nickname – Gin is the alcohol which Alder falls in love with after Ginseng dies.

Please review; as always, I like to know how my readers feel about the story and where there could be improvements.


	22. Recipe for an Android

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty Two – Recipe for an Android**

***X*X*X***

It took Krillin a quarter of an hour to find the message Eighteen had left for him – he had been on his way back from shopping on the mainland with his master. Upon discovering the message, Krillin unashamedly dumped Roshi with the task of putting everything away, grabbed an overcoat and took off at top speed toward North City. He wondered if he would even get there in time to meet her.

On the long flight over the continent, Krillin passed the time fancying all the things which could be in the vault. Perhaps some sort of loving note from her grandfather, along with all the family riches? Or a series of photographs of her childhood? Maybe it would be much worse than that. Maybe it would hold proof of what he knew Eighteen suspected, that her grandfather himself had conducted experiments on her and her brother. His curiosity rising, he approached the limits of North City with excitement.

He was just flying over Enton & Hestlewraithe's, looking for a place to land when to his relief he spotted Eighteen leaving the building. He noted excitedly the black briefcase she was carrying, and waited for her to find a back alley and take off. He thought that once she was high enough in the sky he could make himself known to her. Fate thought differently.

The next thing he knew, Eighteen's head was hitting the pavement, and his heart flew into his mouth. He quickly turned in the sky and dropped at terminal velocity towards the ground, not caring who saw him in mid-flight. He touched down, and from somewhere behind him he heard a _click_.

Krillin turned. The pistol fired.

Krillin screamed as he was sent flying back, landing on Eighteen's prone body. For a few moments, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain. He hadn't thought before he'd landed. Eighteen was not a normal woman – she would never have just fainted. She had been shut down. There was the sound of shoes clacking hurriedly towards them, a small scraping, and the screeching of tires as a car fled the scene, and he opened his eyes to a crowd of people staring, muttering, no one knowing if they should help or stand back. It was getting too public.

Krillin looked down at himself. Blood was pouring from a wound just below his right shoulder. Experimentally, he breathed deeply. It hurt as his lungs expanded and shifted the torn muscles, but there was no bubbling in his breath. The bullet had missed his lungs. Barely. Krillin pulled himself up and willed himself not to scream as the straining of his muscles forced more blood to pour forth from his shoulder. Using his good arm, he slipped a hand underneath Eighteen's stomach, and pulled her close to his body. The briefcase she'd been carrying was gone. Then he took off, not caring how many people exclaimed in disbelief, wonder, and not a little fear. He would not easily be able to come back here, but it didn't matter anymore. He had seen Sylvester Birch, pistol in one hand, controller in the other.

***X*X*X***

Krillin had known passionate rage. He had watched friends die, he had been tortured, and he had known the righteous, explosive anger that comes after long and painful humiliation at the hands of those he could never hope to beat. This was different. Krillin's path and mind were set and deadly, and his rage was cold. However Birch had gotten a hold of a controller, however he'd managed to surprise Krillin quickly enough to fire upon him, he knew that Birch had underestimated him.

Now Krillin was going to show him exactly what he was messing with.

He estimated about two minutes' difference between his arrival over Birch's mansion and the arrival of its master. Krillin was first. He landed unceremoniously outside a back door. With Eighteen slung over his left shoulder, and his left arm holding her there, he kicked in the door and walked calmly through the laundry room. Methodically, he made himself known to the household. He head-butted the butler as he made his way to the front entrance, leaving the man unconscious against a pillar. Climbing the main stairs, he placed Eighteen gently on the bed in the first spare room he found.

He wandered about the house on the lower level then – and when he peered into the kitchen and saw several maids, he abruptly broke the inside handle and shut them in. For good measure, he wedged a chair underneath the outside handle as well. When he looked outside a moment later, he could see Birch's sleek black car pulling up. Krillin felt the rage bubble to the surface before he smothered it. He couldn't afford to screw this up. Aside from anything else, he didn't know how long he had until he passed out from blood loss. Now that he knew the secretary had let Birch back in the gate, he went back to ground level to take care of her. He could hear her behind a closed door. To keep the fuss to an absolute minimum, Krillin first pushed an enormous bookcase in front of her door, then, rushing to be finished before Birch got out of the garage, he cut the phone lines to stop the secretary calling the police.

That was the end of the subtle part. He could hear the maids screaming for attention downstairs as he ran for the garage. He burst through the open door to find Birch's driver opening the back door for him. The driver gaped open-mouthed at the sight of Krillin in his bloodied shirt and jeans and the dead-set expression that let him know that in a moment, he was going to know _exactly_ how much that bullet wound had hurt. In the next second, Krillin had kneed him in the gut, winding him, then brought his good elbow down onto the back of the man's head. The driver hit the ground with all the grace and ceremony of a sack of potatoes.

BANG!

Krillin had ducked in the split second the gun had gone off. He would not be caught so easily a second time. He hit the ground, yelled as he let off a ki blast which hit the bottom of the car and sent it flying into the roller door. There was a loud BOOM against the door, the sound of glass shattering and metal scrunching up like paper, a thud, and then silence. Krillin got up, walked purposefully towards the wreckage, and ripped what was left of the back door completely off the car. Birch's head was bloodied and his eyes were unfocused, the gun still in his hand. Krillin grabbed it, still hot from its last shot, and crushed it in his hand. With a fatalistic tinkle the bits of gun fell to the concrete floor, and Krillin yanked Birch bodily out of the car.

"Now you're going to help me," growled Krillin fiercely, "and this time I think you're going to answer my questions honestly."

***X*X*X***

A couple of minutes later, a very dazed Sylvester Birch was tied firmly and uncomfortably to a chair brought in from the sitting room, with the briefcase and the controller laid out on the bed beside Eighteen. Krillin abruptly threw water on the him to make him focus.

Krillin held the controller in front of the man's face. "How did you get this?"

Birch's eyes rolled about before squinting at the controller. Then looking at Krillin, he grinned.

"Honey Viburnum doesn't deserve what you're going through for her boy. You're a fool." Krillin responded by removing the man's shoes and socks, slowly and methodically. He picked up Birch's left foot, and without taking his eyes off his face, promptly snapped the big toe. Birch gasped and lurched in pain, and sweet, compassionate Krillin didn't so much as flicker an eyebrow.

"I have plenty more to break, and I'm sure I can get creative after I run out of toes. How did you get a hold of this controller?"

With deep, measured breaths, Birch considered Krillin a few moments, then said, "I made it."

That took Krillin back a step.

"You made this? How? How could you have known?" He shook his head, he needed to keep it short. "Bring her back."

But Birch was not done. "Why should I?"

"Aside from that I'll kill you if you don't?"

"Well then we'd both lose what we want."

"Better than you winning."

Birch looked at him sidelong. "Then I'll offer you a deal: I'll bring her back, but neither of you touch me."

Krillin actually growled at that, his agitation was so great. Birch's gaze hardened in shrewdness. "I'm the only one who can do it you know. Dr Gero didn't give out his secrets lightly. If you kill me, she'll never wake up again."

Painfully, unwillingly, but ultimately seeing little choice in the matter, Krillin agreed. He carried Eighteen over his good shoulder again, keeping Birch limping ahead to keep an eye on him. Twice they descended staircases – the building went deeper underground than Krillin had realised. Carefully as he was regulating his ki, his focus was faltering, and he stumbled more than once. Eighteen was incredibly heavy as well. He remembered carrying her after the Cell Games as well, but he was having much more trouble with her now. He could only hope that this expert in robotics knew little about how long a human could stay conscious with a wound like his.

Finally, at the bottom of a third staircase, Birch stopped outside a steel door. He pressed a sequence of numbers on the panel next to it, followed by two separate fingerprints and an eye scan. After these many requisites, the door unlocked, and Birch pushed it open. Krillin walked in behind Birch, feeling a strong foreboding that he was not going to like what he found on the other side. Anything which a man like Birch took this much effort to keep secret must have had something deeply inhumane in its intentions.

What he found was a lab – huge screens hung all over a wall, designs for robots, stores of wires, bolts, wicked-looking silver cutting instruments, and many more items that Krillin had never seen in his life.

"Put her down there." Birch said, indicating a bench similar to the one Eighteen had once placed Seventeen on before Bulma performed surgery on him. Krillin was very afraid for her – how easily Birch could mess up and kill her, claiming it was an accident. Krillin would kill him for it anyway of course, but he wanted Eighteen back much more than he wanted Birch's blood.

Birch was firing up a computer, and sat typing at it for a bit. Krillin's wandering eyes quickly fell on an enormous filing cabinet at the other end of the room. One drawer was clearly marked 'Android #17', and the other 'Android #18'. He gaped in disbelief. Then, striding over to it, he yanked open Eighteen's drawer, breaking the lock on the way out. It was stuffed full of papers, filed by date. As Birch appeared to stick black cords to various points around Eighteen's head without breaking her skin, Krillin grabbed a few of the papers and started shuffling through them. They were a series of progress reports on the building of Eighteen, blueprints and photographs. It was essentially a perfect record of what Dr Gero had done to create the androids. Birch had been his correspondent all along.

The reports were so complicated that Krillin could barely understand a word, but the first time he came across a photo he dropped it in horror. It showed Eighteen's head and neck taken from directly above her. Part of her skull was dissected, and silver mechanised tweezers were attending to her brain. Krillin fought back the bile which rose in his throat, his eyes watering up from the effort and his breath coming in short. If Birch noticed, he said nothing. There were others – morbid, horrified curiosity made Krillin look at two more. One was a microscopic photo of a tiny robot – bug-like in appearance – being released by the silver tweezers into Eighteen's brain. In next photo she was naked on her stomach, this time with her spine being worked on.

Krillin did retch then, gasped for breath and summoned himself. He took the photos and waved them furiously in front of Birch's indifferent face.

"She was a teenage girl! How could you do that to her?!"

With more impatience than anything else, Birch put down his instruments and faced him.

"Can you even comprehend what she is?" He retorted, throwing a hand out to indicate the prone android. He sneered. "You look at her and see every man's fantasy. Shining golden hair, the aloof blue eyes, the girl you always dream of but who's always too good for you? Foolish man. You stare so much at the fantasy that you deny to yourself the reality of what she is." Delicately, Birch plucked the photo of Eighteen's open spine and displayed it matter-of-factly. "Not so beautiful under the surface, is she?"

Krillin made a move to lunge at the man, barely stopping himself as Birch raised one of the cords connected to Eighteen's head.

"Don't forget the deal." Krillin looked from him to Eighteen, and the sight of her face made the longing rise up in him, enough to overcome the rage. He breathed out, and willed himself to put the papers down. Turning back to his work, Birch spoke again.

"But I am not one to leave you in ignorance, Krillin. Would you like to know exactly what was changed about her?" He paused a moment, but did not seem to expect an answer. Instead, he went on to explain Eighteen's android body as if he were giving a lecture to a willing audience.

"It was a very long process, I'm sure you can imagine. Seventeen was started on first, but mostly they were being developed simultaneously. To begin with, he wished to make them less…fragile. Starting from their feet, he replaced their bones with a much harder metallic compound. At the same time he was developing synthetic organs to replace their biological ones. The new organs could only be transplanted one at a time, because complications could arise if their bodies rejected the new organ, and their human constitution was too strained to be able to handle two separate organs at once. Their circulatory systems, hearts and spinal cords were left largely untouched. Once most of their other organs were completely replaced, and all the bones below the skull as well, Gero started on their brains."

Krillin's left fist was clenched hard enough to draw blood. He didn't want to hear this. He couldn't bear it. But somehow he had to know. It wasn't fair to latch onto half of who she was. Deep in his shameful heart, he knew that Birch was right on some level. He looked at Eighteen and saw what he wanted to see. He had never really allowed himself to think of what it really meant that Eighteen was an android. But Birch was far from finished.

"He did his best to erase their past. If their memories could be recalled, they might not be too fond of the man who had so immortalised them." And here Birch looked at Krillin from the corner of his eye to see if Krillin understood his meaning. He then sat down at the computer and continued as he typed away. "Of course, it was necessary that the twins were not always unconscious during this period. After all, it took him ten years to complete them, and they needed to eat."

Krillin's eyes widened as he understood. "They were awake for this?!"

"They were sedated of course, to keep them quiet. He couldn't have them hurting themselves and undoing all that work." Krillin didn't think it could get any worse, and he tried to banish the images of Eighteen lying helpless and in excruciating pain while inside her new bones were settling into place – and her organs for kami's sake – her organs being systematically transplanted. He doubled over in sympathy of her pain.

"The brain work was some of the most delicate to be done. Dr Gero built specialised nanites for various, highly important tasks. These nanites are responsible for the response the Emergency Suspension Controller has on them, as well as the procedure to bring them back which I'm about to use. They're responsible for the twins' ability to fly. When Honey and Melaco's organs had been mostly changed, they stopped giving out an energy signal. Unfortunately Dr Gero understood far more on this point than I do. There were other nanites created to function in different parts of the body. Some were inserted into their hands and a few in their bloodstream to create an electronic circuit which would substitute for this energy signal. This gives them the power to create enormously destructive balls of energy. Dr Gero had told me that it was possible for a human to develop these same powers naturally, but until today I didn't believe him." And here Birch offered Krillin a wry smile, which Krillin did not return.

"Others attend to the maintenance of the new organs and the biological cells – rather like a new immune system. Again in the brain, others still implanted the knowledge that Dr Gero wished them to have. Because the information was stored in the nanites, the memory-wiping experiments he conducted did not affect this particular knowledge. They knew, therefore, that they were the android servants of Dr Gero, created by him to serve only him. They knew how to use their new bodies, and they knew the history and whereabouts of the people Gero wanted dead. He then, very carefully, replaced their skulls the same way he had replaced the rest of their bones." Krillin nodded. This all made a lot of sense.

"Finally, in an effort to remove the expiry date on his long, hard-earned masterpieces, he developed another kind of nanite. These ones attached to the spinal cord. Do you know much about stem cells Krillin?"

"No." He replied bluntly.

"Oh they're fascinating! Developed in the spinal cord, these cells can become anything the body needs most – bone, blood, muscle, anything. They contain all the information in the human body. The DNA strands they hold gradually lengthen as the body gets older. The new nanites were developed specifically to 'police' these stem cells if you will. They are forever keeping Honey and Melaco's DNA the same length. Essentially, they will never age."

The typing had stopped. "And I've finished the programming. Shall I activate her nanites now?" He asked conversationally from his chair. Krillin, who was very much faint from both the conversation and blood loss, nodded once. He held onto her table with his good hand, stabilising himself.

"Do it."

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** Well now THAT was a loaded chapter. Huge thanks to those few of you who reviewed my last chapter. It was one of my favourites, and I was pretty disappointed when it got no response for two weeks. Having three separate people in as many days tell me to get a move on made me actually do it.

Hope you're stoked for the next chapter, because there's only a few of them left in Part 1, and there's more to come yet!

***EDIT***

Okay, so the pistol. I've had a few reviewers point out to me that Krillin and Goku are both bullet-proof kids in Dragonball, so it seems really unlikely that Krillin could be hurt by a gun. Let me just establish here that my fic assumes some _very_ basic forms of common sense and earth logic. I try to work as much as possible within the laws that govern DBZ concerning energy focusing, flying, and generally being gods of fighting. However, here's something else that is Dragonball Canon that I would like to point out.

Before he ever learns to fly using his _ki_, Goku gets thrown out of the ring in the World Tournament. He spends a good twenty seconds thinking in the air whilst 'falling', then just decides to _fly back into the ring by using his tail like a helicopter propeller_. This does not just push the laws of basic logic; it flips logic the finger and tail-propels itself in the other direction. Please, just watch episode 26, _The Great Finals_. Also, in episode 33, _Legend of a Dragon_, several monkeys are fired upon with automatic weapons. Not super monkeys – just normal, everyday monkeys. After they get shot, they just sort of sit together and look sad and maybe one of them has a band aid somewhere. Guns in Dragonball appear to be no more effective in general than a paintball gun, no matter who the recipient is.

So for those of you who wanted to review solely to debate the canonical durability of Krillin's skin versus a gun, I would ask you to please exit stage left and point your monkey-farting Canon elsewhere.


	23. Machine Man's Humanity

**Summary:** A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer:** Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty Three – Machine Man's Humanity**

***X*X*X***

It wasn't like watching someone wake up. It was more like a light flicking on. One moment her body had been almost completely still. The next, her eyes were wide open and unblinking, and she was sitting up. It was another reminder to Krillin's fuzzy brain that even Shen Long had not been able to turn her human again. Then several things happened at once. Eighteen took in Krillin, and seemed visibly relieved; there was a loud banging on the door and a booming voice coming through shouting "North City police! Open the door and drop any weapons!"

Eighteen's head shot around and in about two seconds took in the lab, the wires placed around her head, and Birch. Krillin knew what was coming, and even as she flung off the wires and started moving to make the killing blow to the man who had betrayed her, Krillin's arms slipped in behind hers to hold her back. The attempt itself was pathetic, he was so weak as to almost be unnoticeable to her on a good day, and right now he wasn't sure how long he had until he passed out. But she must have felt him through the rage, because she stopped.

"Krillin!" She shouted, indignant, as Birch backed up towards the door.

"No." He said, weakly, but with conviction. "It's going to be all right Eighteen, I promise. Please, trust me." He released her and she stood looking between the two, the painful conflict of vengeance and trust for once plain on her face. Then she noticed Krillin's shoulder.

"What happened?" The rage was replaced by fear – for him. Legs shaking, and his right hand pressing into the wound to try to stem the flow, he breathed relief.

"Last warning! Open the door or we'll have to force our way through!" Came the voices on the other side. Birch made as if to open the door, and Krillin's warning stopped him short.

"Don't even think about it." He said sharply, but he had been mistaken. It wasn't the door Birch was headed for, it was insurance. A controller hidden in a drawer nearby the door was suddenly in his hand and pointing back at Eighteen.

"The deal's been struck Krillin, I brought her back. Now it's time for you both to leave. I wonder if you can get far enough away in time?" A slightly mad grin was on his face. Eighteen gasped in real fear and turned to Krillin.

"You had another one?" Krillin responded incredulously.

"Of course not. This one isn't designed to shut her down." His grin widened. "It'll destroy her." He made a tiny motion with hands to accompany a mute 'boom'.

"Eighteen." Krillin said, slowly and carefully. He could hear the police drilling into the door, they wouldn't be long. "We're about 3 floors underground. You're going to have to break through the roof to get out. I want you to make a run for it. Now."

And she just looked at him for a moment, shock after shock running across her face, and the silent question; _what about you?_

"I promise it's going to be okay, I won't let him hurt you, but you need to get out of range of that thing as fast as possible." He had barely finished the sentence and she was next to him, and hand cupping his cheek in the gentlest gesture he had ever seen from her. For less than half a second, their eyes met, and then she was gone. A huge crash sounded through the underground lab as Eighteen burst through the ceiling.

Birch hit the button on the controller. "Thanks for getting her away fool! I didn't want to have to die bringing her down. She'll never get out of range in time though!" He was backing into door, expecting Krillin to advance on him for the death blow, but two things happened then which took the smile off his face. One was that he listened, and didn't hear an explosion. Eighteen had not died. The second was that Krillin wore a dark smile, and was on the other side of the room, near the cabinets with the android's files in them.

"A deal's a deal Birch." Krillin said ruthlessly. "I haven't touched you." With that, he released the pressure on his shoulder to forcibly rip out the drawers containing a decade of information on Seventeen and Eighteen, and scattered them all over the lab floor.

In the second it took Birch to realise what he was doing, the police finally released the hinges on the door, and it was kicked in with such force that Birch went sprawling onto the ground, made immobile by the weight of his own security.

Krillin had disappeared with the briefcase through the ceiling, and Birch was left sprawled in a death sentence's worth of evidence on the case of Honey and Melaco Viburnum.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen finally felt the ki aura behind her, and turned around to see Krillin flying after her. She let out a huge breath of relief that she hadn't even known was pent up and stopped where she was. She waited to him to catch up, but noticed his head drooping, and his flight path descending. Abruptly, he simply fell from the sky. Krillin had lost consciousness. The moment she realised it she swooped back around and underneath him, slowing and finally saving his fall. She then took in his appearance more critically in her arms. His shirt was completely soaked in blood beneath his wound, and his skin was looking a very dangerous pale. He was still gripping the briefcase in his left hand. Eighteen gently removed it from his palm, made sure to cradle him carefully in her arms, and sped as fast as she dared away from North City.

***X*X*X***

It took her nearly two hours to find a hospital. She wanted to take him to a town in the north, but felt she couldn't risk the North City police discovering they were there. Satan City was the next closest major city. Eighteen wasn't even careful about dropping out of the sky in front of people – she just did it quickly and hurried into the building before anyone could gape too much. The emergency ward receptionist called in the doctors immediately upon seeing Krillin. Within two minutes he was wheeled away on a hospital bed, but the nurse told Eighteen quite firmly that she needed to stay and fill out some paperwork.

Trying to breathe and remind herself that Krillin was in safe hands now, she did her best to put her shaking pen to paper.

The wait was a long one, and there was only one thing Eighteen felt she could do in the intervening hours: finish her grandfather's diary.

She had woken up in a laboratory terrifyingly similar to Dr Gero's, and the moment she'd laid eyes on Birch she'd known that it had been him. Only he could possibly have had the technology to make an Emergency Suspension Controller after both Dr Gero and Elder Viburnum had died. Somewhere in the diary, her grandfather must have written something explaining this. She didn't know how Birch and Gero could have become associates, or even why Birch would have wanted to kidnap her. She had to know, and so she found where she had left off and searched for more clues to her past.

_December 10th, Age 755_

_Honey and Melaco graduate very soon. They have grown into proud young adults. Eighteen will enter the Royal Emperor University next year, majoring in Business Management and Computer and Robotic Science. It is the best school money can buy her in the entire northern region, and I am proud of her for earning the marks needed for entrance. I am increasing her allowance as a reward, and I believe she has not hesitated in utilizing it. I am very impressed with how she has turned out, nonetheless. She is as pretty a teenager as can be found, but nobody's fool. I believe she has courted boys' attentions, but has never brought one home to meet me. I can only assume she does not find them worthy of her. Her martial arts training has taught her well, and to my knowledge she has never been taken advantage of. Even without the training_ _however, I doubt I would have had to worry. Melaco, still her closest and perhaps only confidant, would quickly dissuade any boy foolish enough to do wrong by her. _

_Melaco has not done as well as his sister on his final results, but he has also made me proud. His brains are certainly there, and he knows almost as much of robotics as his sister, but the interest which abounds in her is almost completely absent in him. Lately he has been taking to extreme sports. He has been caving, white-water rafting, abseiling, sky diving, and these are only the ones I know about. He has not given me cause for concern, he knows to take care of himself, but his taste in adrenaline rushes seems extreme, even for a boy his age. _

_As he has gone out and earned his license, and undertaken the dangerous driving course I demanded as a prerequisite, I decided he was ready for his first car, and gave it to him for his seventeenth birthday – a BMW. I believe he was happy with his gift. He will also go to Royal Emperor University, but he will only undertake a Bachelor of Physics. I suspect he only wishes to go to stay by Honey. The two have been inseparable for as long as I can remember, and perhaps Melaco is not quite ready to face the wide world without her yet. I have no problem with this._

_Both children have kept up their training, and after the high school graduation ceremony tonight I will announce to them my intentions of leaving them shared ownership of the company when I am gone. _

_February 21st, Age 757_

_Dr Gero made an interesting proposal to me the other day. He asked me my opinion in combining robotic technology with organic matter. When I asked him to expand on this, he told me he was contemplating the idea of adding electronic enhancements to the human body. I have to admit I am quite fascinated with the idea. The technology would be ground-breaking. Viburnum Enterprises has been doing extremely well in the last few years, and I must say that Dr Gero's ideas have certainly helped in our rise to success. Capsule Corporation remains our biggest obstacle of course, but I believe we would even overtake them in the market if we could make this work. I came up with a few sketches of things I would like to try, including the creation of synthetic organs which would function in place of failing human ones. Imagine the increase in longevity we could produce! If this sort of thing had been possible twenty years ago, my grandchildren might not have grown up without parents. I might have had the technology to save Ginseng's life, and with it my son's. Dr Gero has told me that he will bring in his new sketches next week, when we can look them over together and make our first plans from there. _

_Honey and Melaco in the meantime, are halfway through their degrees. I have already prepared a spot in my administration for Honey. Melaco is welcome to a position if he so chooses as well, but he must first prove to me that he can actually handle the responsibility, and will not neglect his position. The boy reminds me of his mother a little, daring and carefree. Honey is more like her father in her manner, but she has a stronger mind and greater determination than he. I have high hopes for the pair of them, though I wonder at their apparent lack of connection with people. It does make me worry for them sometimes. I know I have often not been there for them in their youth, and their nurses have changed too often for them have become attached to them either. No friends or companions have made enough impression on them to last more than a few months. They will be marvellous at their work, I just hope they do not remain as secluded as they are now. _

_February 27th, Age 757_

_I fear I have made a great misjudgement in the character of Dr Gero. He is not interested at all in the benefit of humanity. His own business, his private ideas revolve around the creation of androids. He has been in this business for many years already it seems, and I dearly do not wish to think of the damage he has already caused in the world. He completed his sixteenth model last year, but claims he was unsatisfied with it, and wanted to try experimenting with human-based androids. He believes he can make stronger killing machines, if they have the intelligence of humans, but are without conscience. I was disturbed and appalled by what he expected my support in doing. I feel a dangerous fool for not seeing this sooner. When Gero explained to me his plans and showed me his sketches, I threw them into the fireplace and declared him a madman. I warned him never to come near me again, and he would never receive another part from Viburnum Enterprises to help him complete his schemes. Dr Gero left in a hurry, clearly with no small degree of resentment for my decision. He told me before making his exit that I would regret this more deeply than I could know. I think perhaps he will try to strike at the company. I have alerted the right people and even contacted the police about him. They investigated his warehouse, but found it empty. Dr Gero must have pre-empted me there. I fear for the repercussions of this, but I cannot condone helping this man, no matter the cost to my company. _

_March 18th, Age 757_

_Dear Lord. He has taken my grandchildren. I have been a fool from the very beginning. Dr Gero is a monster of the worst kind. He took them right from their beds in the middle of the night, using my own security bots. Only now does my head of security tell me that several bots disappeared two nights after I banished the doctor. He obviously took my reproval of him more personally than even I imagined. He has left me with no ransom note, and has left without a trace. I have alerted the police and have a private investigator searching for them. I have stopped work altogether, I cannot think about it right now. _

_In addition to my only remaining family, Dr Gero has stolen hundreds of thousands of zeny worth of equipment from the company building. I cannot voice it, but I have terrible, terrible fears of Dr Gero's intentions from here. I only pray that someone finds my grandchildren before anything happens to them. _

And here Eighteen noticed the number of entries dwindled considerably. Sometimes there were one line entries saying things like "the police found no signs of forced entry into my penthouse. The most valuable items belonging to the twins are also missing, and signs point towards a runaway case." Or "They think I'm going insane. The police have found no trace of my grandchildren, they seem to be ready to give up and declare them runaways."

There were almost no entries about the company after she'd been kidnapped. For years, Elder's absent pen spoke to her of his absence in his company, and perhaps even in his own mind. Until five years later.

_August 30th, Age 762_

_This will be my final entry in this book. The worst has happened. My whole world is undone. Two days ago an attempt was made on my life as I exited Viburnum Headquarters. It seems this company has been my greatest failing for decades now and I have only just realised it. I have seen my grandchildren again. I did not think I was seeing correctly when I first laid eyes on them. They flew towards me, not in an airplane or with any kind of equipment, just by seemingly their own willpower. Their hair is shorn short, where both twins used to wear it long, and their expressions were more impartial than I have ever seen them. Despite my shock, for the first time in my life I ran towards them and tried wholeheartedly to embrace them. They side-stepped me, and asked me, "What are you doing?"_

_I asked them if they truly did not recognise me, their only family. They laughed at me, told me they had no family. They were androids, sent here on an assignment to destroy this building. In the next second they had raised their hands and fired a ball of light out their palms. I have never seen anything like it, but it destroyed the entirety of Viburnum Headquarters in the blink of an eye. I realised in that moment that all I am has been for naught. The empire that I spent a lifetime building, crushed in an instant. My grandchildren - my only family, sent here to destroy my entire world, and as they turned to face me, I realised they were here to destroy me as well. _

_Behind them, out of the rising dust, one more figure appeared. I was both unsurprised and sickened to see my old associate, Dr Gero, emerge to greet me. He turned to the twins and addressed them as Androids 17 and 18, then ordered them to kill me. He has even erased their names. He has taken the ultimate revenge upon me. He wanted to have me killed by my own flesh and blood. Looking at them, their hands raised again for one last strike, I knew they did not remember me, and planned to do exactly what their new master said. It broke me, and I wept before them, for the first time in decades. I begged them to remember who I was, and called them by their names. I believed I was finished, until I said those magic words. There is always something in a name, I have thought. Something changed in their eyes - those familiar Viburnum eyes - changed into the faces I remembered. They paused, looked at each other, and called me grandfather. I wept even harder, in desperate relief, but I should have known it would not be so easy. _

_They seemed to have realised exactly what had happened to them, for a second later they turned on Dr Gero, sending two more bolts of light at him. The Doctor yelled out in rage and managed to dodge sideways. Before any of us had realised, he had pulled out a controller which must have been created as a back-up deactivator. The small window of hope we had was gone, as I watched Honey and Melaco collapse onto the ground. I got up to come and help them, but Dr Gero had brought company with him. The same security bots which had abducted them in the night rapidly started emerging from behind him, and firing at me. _

_I ran from the scene for help, and received a shot to the arm trying to outrun the bots. Fortunately, the police were not far off, having seen my skyscraper collapse. It was after hours, so most of the staff should have been gone. I do not want to think about how many people were still inside the building, working overtime. I quickly told the police that I needed immediate assistance, but the security bots had scattered once other people were around to see them. The police were sceptical, but my urgency persuaded two of them to follow me back to where Honey and Melaco had fallen. By the time I got back, all trace of them had gone. _

_Needless to say I am devastated. I feel like the end of the world is nigh. All my possessions, my life's work, and all the people who breathed life into me are gone. The only reason I still have this diary is because it was in my satchel as I left. Later, in a hotel room, I considered ending my own life. In the end I couldn't do it; my grandchildren are still alive, even if they have been altered by that monster. If there is any hope left of bringing them home to me, I will take that chance. Tomorrow I will visit my vault in Enton and Hestlewraithe's. In previous years, I have kept top secret schematics for my robot designs and plans there. None of that means anything to me now. My empire is lost. I will throw those plans away, and keep this diary in there, along with what remains of my savings. I do not know when or if I shall return to collect these items, but I hope that if I cannot return, then my grandchildren will live to read this. I also have with me my laptop, on which I will encode a disk containing the information to lead them to my vault. I will post it to Birch, the only man left who might be able to explain to my grandchildren what has happened. Once I have made my deposit at the bank, I will go in search of Honey and Melaco. I don't care how long it takes to find them, or what Dr Gero has done to them, they are still human, and none of what Dr Gero makes them do is their fault. _

_To you my grandchildren, if I fail in my search, and never see you again, I am sorrier than you can ever know. _

_Signed,_

_Elder Viburnum _

Isolated on a cold waiting-room chair, Honey Viburnum sunk her head low onto her lap, obscuring her face from prying eyes, and wept for a very long time.

***X*X*X***

**A/N:** A huge thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, it was very warming and very inspirational to read all your comments. I can't take full credit for the science involved in the making of Seventeen and Eighteen though, I'm a language major and rather pathetic at science. I had a long discussion with a wonderful biomechanics major about how they would work, and a great deal of what she told me ended up in that chapter. So huge thanks to her for that as well.

Secondly, I needed to address the question from anonymous reviewer '**I like cheese**', who asked me how Krillin could possibly have been hurt by a bullet. Put quite simply, Krillin is human. I know he's strong beyond all reason, but the reason he's strong is because he trains and knows how to focus energy like ordinary humans can't. Had Krillin been properly focused at the time, yes, he probably could have avoided or even resisted the bullet, but he was caught off guard. As far as I'm concerned, no matter how strong a person becomes, their skin doesn't cease to break when it comes into contact with something sharp. Basically, I'm trying to adhere to some form of earth logic, because otherwise - short of destroying planets - it becomes very difficult to create a story in the DBZ universe.

Lastly, the note on timelines I've been promising. I based it around the Dragon Ball Wiki page, if you needed further clarification, but here are the events significant to Lovefools:

**736** Krillin and Mr Satan born

**737** Goku and Chi Chi Born

**738** Honey and Melaco Viburnum are born.

**740** Krillin trains at the Orin Temple at the age of four. Honey and Melaco are orphaned, age two.

**749** Bulma attends Senior High School (year 10) in West City. Meets Goku on her Summer

vacation searching for the dragon balls

**749** Goku and Krillin start training under Master Roshi together. Krillin is 12 or 13.

**750** Capsule Corporation holds 40% of the world's automobile market, while the Red Ribbon Army

only holds 16%.

**750** Red Ribbon Army searches for the Dragon Balls and is destroyed by Goku.

**756** Goku and Chi Chi marry, and Videl is born

**757** Gohan and Dende are born. Honey and Melaco are kidnapped. Dr Gero begins to turn them into androids.

**762** August 30th: Seventeen and Eighteen are awoken for the first time, and destroy Viburnum Headquarters. Elder writes his last journal entry and sets out to find them.

**764** Elder Viburnum's body is discovered in the White Heights.

**766** Trunks is born

**767** May 12th: Androids 19 and 20 appear near South City. Eighteen and Seventeen are awoken.

**767** May 26th: Cell is defeated by Gohan. Krillin is 31, the androids are 29, although their bodies are in stasis.


	24. The Truth

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty Four – The Truth **

***X*X*X***

The next morning, Krillin was in a deep and peaceful sleep, and his heart monitor had been removed. The nurse informed Eighteen that Krillin was recovering shockingly fast, and he would probably wake up sometime that afternoon. Eighteen stood by his bed, watching his breathing. Deep, steady. It was a balm after the ordeal the night had brought on. Her tears had long since dried up, and the hurt and regret for her lost family was not as immediate. Here was someone who seemed determined to be trustworthy, and to care about her despite what she was. She couldn't doubt him anymore.

To pass the time, she turned on the TV in his room to a low volume, prepared to tune out. What she saw instead was the breaking news coming in from North City. The headlines read 'Sylvester Birch arrested and charged with the assisted kidnapping and torture of Honey and Melaco Viburnum'. They had even managed to find a photo of what the two of them must have looked like while they were still human. Eighteen stared at herself, only looking marginally younger in the decade-old photo on the screen. She'd had long hair back then, worn past her shoulders. Seventeen's wasn't much shorter. Neither of them were smiling in the photo, and they were both in formal attire, posing for a studio photograph.

Then there was a shot of Sylvester Birch himself, limping as he walked from the police car into the station. The news story stated that he was currently being held in the city prison, towards the northern, colder end of North City.

***X*X*X***

About three hours later, a brunette sporting bright red lipstick and a short dress to match walked into the North City prison. It was good timing really, Birch had been in there less than a day, and hadn't been tried, so visiting rules weren't quite so strict. In any case the receptionist wasn't too keen on impeding someone so scantily dressed claiming to be Birch's second cousin. Confidently as she posed for the depraved receptionist, the disguised Eighteen struggled to maintain her composure as she approached the seat opposite the man she came to see. She sat, very slowly, and looked deliberately into the man's eyes. Birch appeared neither smug nor defeated. In fact, he seemed rather calm, which bothered Eighteen immensely. After a moment, he reached out next to him to pick up the phone, and Eighteen followed suit.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Viburnum." His tone had not changed a bit.

"You know that briefcase you shut me down for? All it had was a bit of Elder's savings and a diary which didn't suspect you at all. If you hadn't interfered like that, I would never have known what you did."

Birch raised his eyebrows, only mildly surprised. "Indeed? What a pity then."

Eighteen glared at him, fighting her temper.

"Why did you even do any of it? What was Gero to you? My grandfather never wrote a bad word about you, what could he possibly have done to deserve all that?" She bit her lip, and the bitterness seeped into her words. "Why did you make me into this thing that tried to kill him?"

Birch considered her.

"It looks as though Dr Gero's memory experiments worked better than I realised." Then he leaned forward in his seat, his eyes challenging her. "Do you think me evil, child?"

It irked Eighteen even more to be called child, but as she raised her chin and said 'yes', she felt like one.

"Then you're still a fool. I was with Elder from the early days, helping him build the company from the ground up. We were both robotic science majors, but I had the better business sense, and he was a genius in what he made. Both of us participated equally in the building of Viburnum Enterprises, and the creation of that sort of edifice requires a great capacity to crush anyone in your path. I stayed Elder's vice president for so long because I was as vicious as he was. And yes, of course I wanted the helm, but I was willing to accept Elder's decision to groom his son as the heir instead. I understood - Elder was that type of man.

'Alder turned out to be a passionless child, with no drive or fortitude to achieve anything in his life. The only time I ever heard Elder say anything positive about his own flesh and blood was in his guilt after Alder's unfortunate suicide.

'In the years following his son's death, I thought he would certainly turn to a more practical solution to the problem of inheritance, but it eventually became apparent that he was going to try the same scheme over again, with you and your brother instead. He hadn't learned the first time, and still arrogantly believed that his blood was the only thing worthy enough to inherit his company. To add insult to injury, the two of you had no respect for the company at all, which was barely concealed from Elder by an inherent fear you both had of him. Had either of you ever actually inherited Viburnum Enterprises, it would have fallen within five years without a doubt. You were nothing but rich brats who had always known a life of privilege, and cared only for other people insofar as what they could get you."

Eighteen's fist was clenched, but she forced herself to continue. "So you talked Dr Gero into kidnapping and mutilating us?"

Birch actually chuckled. "Goodness no, I didn't have that kind of expertise. It was Gero's idea. I noticed that Gero was scouting out the company as soon as his acquaintance with Elder started. Elder was completely oblivious to the critical way Gero assessed suspicious things like the structure of the security bots in the building, or the positions of the cameras, or who worked in which section at what time. I thought it might be best if I made myself known to this man. I don't think Elder could ever possibly have realised how much I protected his company until he stopped giving me reasons to do it. When the inevitable fallout between Gero and Elder occurred, he approached me as I knew he would, aware of my dissatisfaction with Viburnum Enterprises. We came to a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Brought together by revenge?" She sneered at him.

"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking. Revenge was just a convenient side effect to getting what we both wanted. You already know what I was after. What Dr Gero wanted from Elder was resources. In his pan of revenge, Gero already had much bigger fish to fry than Elder. He wanted to create human-based androids that would be more powerful than any weapon this world has ever seen. Honestly I thought it was some sort of military project, but I almost laughed when he told me it was for a few individuals who had destroyed his lab a few years back. But even a genius cannot make something from nothing – the parts had to come from somewhere. They were highly specialised too, so he thought he would need Elder's cooperation to get a hold of them. Obviously that didn't work, but I was the vice president, and had much more to do with the daily workings of the employees than the president did anyway. You two were the price of my betrayal.

'It was an incredibly convenient solution really. Here were a pair of twins who shared approximately 70% of their genetic code, who were at the perfect age of youth, resilience and flexibility, but old enough that further physical development wouldn't impede the experiments Dr Gero wanted to try. If you hadn't survived the experiments, Gero would have found other test subjects readily enough. Either way, you were out of the way and Gero could get the parts he needed."

Birch leaned back in his chair.

"Does that tell you what you needed to know, Miss Viburnum?"

Eighteen considered.

"No. Not quite. By taking Melaco and I, you both had your revenge. Why dig it in further by waking us up early just to kill Elder? And how did destroying Viburnum Enterprises benefit you? It was what you'd wanted for decades."

"Ah." And here Birch hesitated, and almost looked sad. "Well, things didn't quite work out the way I'd wanted them to. Unlike with the death of his son, Elder didn't quite come back to himself after you two disappeared. I don't know if it was because he was getting old by then, or because he no longer had any family depending on him, but he wasn't the same afterwards. He never changed his will, never accepted that you were gone. He didn't care about the company anymore, and it started to take a turn for the worse. In two years, we'd had to lay off 10% of the staff, and it kept getting worse from there. By the time you two were activated the first time, it was almost bankrupt." He sighed. "You were woken up early at my request. Gero wasn't satisfied with his memory experiments, and still had a lot more work to do on your brains, but he did it anyway as a favour to me.

'I'd realised by then that the company was never going to be mine. Elder would run us both into ruin without knowing or caring, and all I could still hope for was that I might at least retire in peace and wash my hands of it all. If Viburnum Enterprises crumbled to dust and its president tragically died with it, the insurance would have legally passed to me. In the end, that's the best I had to hope for. I wasn't exactly happy that it had come to that either."

"You're despicable."

"Am I? The only thing that really separated me from Elder was that he had a family. Elder and I both married when we were younger, and both wives hated us before we'd even reached our five year anniversary. Elder's wife Gordonia died when her son was ten. My wife left me seven years into our marriage. I never had children. Elder actually had people in his life to love, and he had a chronic habit of ignoring them completely until they were gone forever.

'Do you think you would have had a happier life if I'd left you be? You would have gone through a life that someone else had paved for you, without ever considering if you even wanted it. And the truth was that you didn't. Even I knew you better than your grandfather did back then. You wanted to impress Elder, certainly, and you were at least interested in robotics for a time, but all you had really wanted all your life was some sign of familial love from him, and you never got it. At least I would have actually told my children I loved them if I'd ever been lucky enough to have them."

Eighteen's chest tightened then, with an overwhelming sadness for a man she could no longer even remember.

"He did though. I read his diary. He talked about me with pride. I know he actually did care." Her voice was soft considering the man she was talking to. Birch gave a dismissive snort.

"Then aren't you glad things are the way they are now? You have a free road ahead, immortality at your disposal, and if I hadn't done all of those things, you might never have known that your grandfather cared about you at all."

That brought Eighteen back to the reality of what had occurred. Her gaze was perfect steel again.

"Absolutely nothing could ever justify you killing my grandfather. If you're not sentenced to death by the North City jury then I'll find a way to kill you myself."

Birched upturned one corner of his mouth.

"I expected as much. I knew you would either find Elder's invaluable blueprints and records or proof of my betrayal in that vault when I gave you the disk, and I needed to tie up that last loose end. Did you know I had the Emergency Suspension Controller in my jacket pocket when you first came into my mansion?" Eighteen's eyes widened. "No, I didn't think so. It was a relief to find you didn't remember anything about me really."

Eighteen stood up to leave.

"But it wasn't me who killed Elder." Birch put in quickly, before she could disconnect them. She paused. "Gero had to finish up what he started. I was told later that his sixteenth android model was a specialised tracker, and that he had used it to find Elder after he disappeared. Gero shot him in the chest himself."

_No. Not Sixteen as well. _She closed her eyes against the pain of seeing Sixteen's damaged face flash to the forefront of her mind. Sixteen trying to protect her before she was absorbed by Cell. The gentle giant. The specialised tracker. Everyone she had ever known had black marks against them. Was it even worth knowing her past?

"Enough. I hope the weight of everything you've done in your life crushes you." She hung up abruptly and walked away, determined never to look in his eyes again.

***X*X*X***

It was almost dusk when she walked back into Krillin's room. She saw that the TV was on, and as she rounded the corner there was Krillin, sitting upright and wide awake, staring at the screen. His eyes found hers and he smiled.

"Hey Eighteen."

"Hey Krillin."

She strode over to his bed and sat down beside him, feeling the forced casualness in the atmosphere. Somewhere, Eighteen felt a little disappointed that their reunion hadn't been a little more dramatic.

"When did you wake up?"

Krillin switched off the TV. "Oh, about 1 o'clock." He grinned sardonically. "The nurses aren't happy with me."

Eighteen raised her eyebrows. "Why? Were you looking up their skirts?" He laughed a little in response.

"Nah, I'm healing faster than they want me to, and I'm eating a heck of a lot. We should probably get out of here early tomorrow morning before they start bringing in the scientists." She looked over at his bandaged shoulder.

"So your arm's feeling better?"

He lifted it for her to show he could move it. "No more pain, but I'll have to take it easy for a week or two. You did the right thing to bring me here."

She paused. "I needed to thank you. For making Birch bring me back, as well as saving me from the second controller."

Krillin looked confused for a moment. "Oh! Ah, you're welcome. For the first part anyway."

"What do you mean? You _did_ stop him from using the controller, right?"

Krillin shook his head. "Nope. He pressed the button."

"Then I guess I got out of range in time." She said, a little more disappointed.

Another head shake.

"Then how…?"

Krillin grinned mischievously. "Birch may have known everything about how you were made, but he didn't know what happened to you since Dr Gero died, did he?"

"Well I guess not. But what does that have to do with-"

"Just think," Krillin said, "How would he have destroyed you with only a controller?"

"He would've activated the…" Eighteen gaped suddenly as she realised. "You!" His grin was wide now.

"…the self-destruct bomb inside you. The one I got rid of with my wish." And he winked at her, and she couldn't help laughing. When it subsided, she finished shaking her head at him she asked,

"Then why did you want me to leave in a hurry?"

The grin left Krillin's face. "Well for one, if the police were going to see either of us when they busted in, at least they wouldn't recognise me, but mostly I didn't want you to see what else was in Birch's lab."

Eighteen's brow furrowed, but Krillin seemed to want to change the subject. "Been doing some light reading while you were gone." He deadpanned, nodding towards the enormous leather volume she'd left on his bedside table. "I assume you wanted to me to see it."

Eighteen nodded. "You helped me get this far. It sort of seemed fair that you should know what really happened."

Krillin nodded sombrely. "I'm sorry."

There was a pause. "I know." She took a deep breath. "In the end, I think it's better that I found out. It doesn't bring me any happiness, but at least I know the truth now. I'm actually thankful for that. I feel like I know who I am now."

"And who are you?" Krillin asked, not looking at her. Eighteen finally realised that something big was bothering him. She cocked her head.

"Krillin?" She waited until he looked up. "What happened in Birch's lab?" Krillin scratched the back of his head, a gesture which usually meant he was nervous, but as he seemed calm, Eighteen assumed he didn't like what he was going to say.

"Birch was Dr Gero's correspondent while you and Seventeen were being built." He began. Eighteen nodded – this didn't surprise her. "He kept all the records of the process. I um…" He shut his eyes tightly. "I saw some of the things he did to you. They were…terrible. I never want to see them again. It made me realise how much was really changed in you, and I remembered that even the Eternal Dragon couldn't make you human again."

"And now you're wondering if I really am just a machine?" Eighteen asked flatly. Krillin's eyes were open again, but he couldn't meet her gaze as he nodded.

***X*X*X***

Eighteen stood up, and Krillin thought she would leave. His heart felt like it was crushing itself in his chest, but he'd had to say it. He wondered how long he'd regret it.

But suddenly she was next to him, her hand cupping his cheek just like in the lab before she'd taken flight, but this time she did not leave. She bent over his bed, guided his face to hers, and kissed him. Her mouth was warm over his, and her hand was soft on his cheek. His stomach fluttered wildly, and all thought except for how wonderful she felt rushed away from him. The crushing feeling soared into sky high happiness. She pulled away gently, the kiss lingering on his lips.

"Krillin," she whispered, "you just gave me back my humanity. Don't you _dare_ take it away now."

He stared at her, unbelieving, feelings he had no name for churning through him in waves. He reached one hand up to her face, which was still very close to him. He did so slowly, afraid that any sudden movement on his part would make her vanish like the last time he'd tried this. But she kept eye contact with him, and did not move. Finally, he touched her cheek, and with trembling fingers ran his hand across her skin and into the hair above her ear. It was every bit as soft and silken as he'd imagined, and still she did not leave. He pulled her in once again, forcing himself to ease his breathing. He looked into her eyes from closer than he ever had before, and saw that the blue in her irises was broken up with tiny shards of a colour that bordered on white. He closed his eyes, leaned in and kissed her.

_Of course she's real. She always was, she just didn't always know it. She's real…_

**A/N: _  
_**

****Apologies for how long it took to pump this chapter out! I've got finals next week and have been pretty busy in the interim.

I know this chapter was also a bit info dumpy, but I promise, there will be no more of that. We are nearly at the end of part 1.

Thanks to all my reviewers, you continue to inpsire me, and it's lovely that there are still fans of this highly underrated couple. For those of you who liked this story and favourited it, please don't forget to leave a review. Constructive criticism is fine, I'm looking for opinions, not just flat out flattery, and everything helps.


	25. Moving On

**Summary**: A technicality gone wrong in a wish from the Z fighters leaves Android Seventeen in a coma, and with Dr Gero gone the only person who can save him is still a shaky ally. Without her twin, and with Android Sixteen gone Android Eighteen is left alone to put together the pieces of her past and the truth of her own being, with just one person left with faith in her.

**Disclaimer**: Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama and TOEI Animation Ltd. No money is being made from this work.

**Lovefools Chapter Twenty Five – Moving On **

***X*X*X***

Eighteen found herself visiting Seventeen less and less. For the first few weeks of his coma, she had been expecting him to wake up at any moment, and had checked in on him as often as possible, but as time wore on and Seventeen's condition didn't change, she found her hopes waning. For six months she had kept up daily visits, but since she'd skipped the visits during those frantic days in which she'd visited North City and he still hadn't woken up, her visits were becoming fewer and further between. The more time had passed, the more distant she felt from her twin. There was so much she had been through now that he had not shared, and no amount of explaining could ever possibly make him understand. She was different now, and she was beginning to feel like she was wasting her time in his room. Seventeen would not wake up for her, and she was only now starting to accept that.

***X*X*X***

But rather than feeling bereft, Eighteen was quite content lately. The morning after she'd kissed Krillin, the two of them had unceremoniously left the hospital together, and Eighteen had accompanied him all the way back the Kame House. It was funny to think of that. She had known for a fact that Krillin would have been absolutely fine getting back by himself, and that to worry about him was irrational. She'd done it anyway.

Master Roshi had taken in Krillin's bandages with concern when he'd looked up at them from his chair in the sun, but when Eighteen came with him, he'd looked from one to the other, a wide-spreading grin dawning on his face. Before he'd even said a word, Eighteen knew that the old man had already come to several incorrect conclusions.

"Krillin! Where've _you_ been huh?" He demanded, wiggling his eyebrows. Krillin had looked at Eighteen, who hadn't moved at all, and replied.

"Sorting out some business at Bulma's. I got into a bit of an accident, but I'm fine. Eighteen just wanted to see me home." Eighteen was surprised at the ease with which the lie came from him. She supposed it was because most of what he was lying about was something he genuinely didn't want to talk about, rather than a weak excuse to cover up some salacious affair. Master Roshi looked distinctly disappointed, and not very convinced, but he didn't press them further.

"Well, there's some leftover seafood soup in the fridge if you wanted champon." He'd said, settling back into his chair.

"Thank you master." Krillin had replied, and given a little bow before stepping inside.

***X*X*X***

In the weeks since then, Eighteen had been spending time with Krillin several days a week. He went to the movies with her, took her shopping, stayed on the beach swimming and sunbathing with her, they'd had drinks and played cards – during which time they discovered that Eighteen played a mean hand of poker – and Eighteen had felt the difference. Krillin's kind face and endless buoyancy was taking its effect. Life was normalizing, and some time during those days she had realised that she was going to be okay.

Her relationship with Krillin had been tentative. She smiled more often, but had not kissed him, and he'd kept a respectful distance.

When she had first met Krillin that day she was awoken in Gero's lab, she'd dismissed him as a weak, dependent sort of person. Ever since then, he had consistently proven her to be wrong, being the supporting beam for the both of them. It was admirable, and it impressed her. She felt at times that she should find some way to help support him the way he did her, but he never seemed to need it. Krillin had been the dominant member of the Kame House for some time now, and was clearly quite capable of taking care of both himself and his master. It wasn't until a fortnight after they'd left the Satan City Central Hospital that Eighteen finally got a bit of insight into what did trouble the mind of Krillin, and find her opportunity to help him.

***X*X*X***

Krillin had called up Gohan, and arranged for himself, Eighteen and Master Roshi to visit over the weekend. As Master Roshi was coming along, they had taken a small, capsuled motorboat and then taken Krillin's car from the edge of the mainland. Eighteen hadn't even known that he'd owned a car. She thought the bright red was a bit much, but readily admitted that Krillin had much better taste in vehicles than Seventeen. It was also better than the idea of either of them having to carry Master Roshi over several hundred miles.

They arrived at Mount Kao by about one in the afternoon. They found Gohan inside, bustling about trying to help his mother out with lunch. He didn't look too unhappy about it though - he was probably rejoicing in getting to do anything other than study.

"HI GUYS!" He greeted enthusiastically.

Chi Chi was of course, in front of the stove, working even more busily than Gohan. She turned around briefly when she heard her son.

"Oh hi! Lunch'll be ready soon." She turned her head round a little further and shrieked, "GOHAN!" Gohan, carrying a plate of biscuits, jumped and spilled half of them on the floor.

"Yeah Mom?"

"Get our guests some tea whilst I finish up here!"

"Here, I'll get these." Krillin offered, so Gohan could run after his mother. It looked a bit odd that Gohan was still at Chi Chi's beck and call like that; he was a teenager now, and he looked it. A few more years and the boy who saved the world would well and truly be young man. They all sat around the table in the living room for a while, sipping their tea and snacking on biscuits until lunch was ready. They all helped Chi Chi load everything onto the table – rice bowls and empty side plates, steamed dumplings and fried fish, noodles in broth and deep-fried packets of wrapped pork mince with chives and water chestnuts. In short, it was magnificent feast.

When Chi Chi finally settled down to eat with them, Eighteen noticed how much her belly had grown. She was now seven months in, and was leaning back ever so slightly to keep her balance as she walked. They ate mostly without talking, though the table was far from silent. Gohan ate with an astounding appetite, and Chi Chi was eating a lot more than usual to accommodate her baby. With everyone thoroughly enjoying Chi Chi's cooking, the table was filled with happy munching sounds, occasionally punctuated with conversation about her soon-to-be-born child.

Once the meal was over, Chi Chi was in a hurry to get everyone out of the house so she could clean. The three men scurried off to the river to play, Eighteen trailing behind them. She had not brought her swimmers with her, and wasn't much in the mood for getting wet, so she just watched from a rock on the shore. Krillin, Gohan and Master Roshi all rushed to the river, taking off their clothes as they went. Eighteen felt a little indecent staring at Gohan or Master Roshi, so she watched Krillin instead. Not for the first time she noted that Krillin had a very well-defined body with strong, healthy muscles everywhere a person should. He was not quite as puffed out as Gohan, but more filled-out and masculine than her brother. She quite liked it, and not-very-subtly watched him as he dived in and moved through the cold water, occasionally smiling to herself. She would probably have shot death glares at anyone who actually said out loud that she was perving.

The sun was warm on Eighteen's rock, and the boys were taking their time with water fights and other games, so she eased off her black vest, just leaving her white t-shirt. It was her favourite outfit, and she wore it most often. Presently, Gohan ran out onto the bank, panting and raising a hand in surrender.

"Okay guys, I'm just gonna rest up for a bit" He said to his companions. Krillin and Master Roshi laughed, and went back to bombing each other. Gohan came and sat his wet self on the rock beside Eighteen, stretching out contentedly.

"You sure you didn't want to join in Eighteen? It's a lot of fun."

"No thanks. It seems pointless."

"Oh. Well I guess that's why it's fun, but each to their own. Are you having a good time here anyway?" Eighteen shrugged and gave a nod.

"Sure. I'm getting a nice tan here, and it was a good lunch. Your mom's a good cook."

"Thanks." Gohan said proudly. He was unusually immune to her flat way of speaking. "She used to have to cook twice as much when dad was around. Even I can't eat as much as he used to." Eighteen felt a slight twisting at the mention of Goku.

"Isn't it strange, not having your father around anymore? You don't seem very sad about it." Gohan smiled knowingly, and tilted his head back.

"I know it's weird, but I don't really feel like dad's gone. He has friends in high places you know." And he giggled here as if he'd made a great joke, which Eighteen didn't get at all. "And because of them, he can talk to me sometimes. Not as much anymore, but I can still feel him with me. I don't feel as if I'm never going to see him again." Eighteen was flabbergasted by the cheerfulness of this boy.

"Don't you hate me for what I tried to do to him? Krillin told me you guys spent three years training to fight me."

"Mmm...not really" the boy mused to himself, shrugging. "Piccolo tried to kill my dad a long time ago too, and they're really good friends now, not to mention Piccolo was my mentor. It just goes to show there's nearly always a good side to people, you just have to find it. You guys never even fought my dad, and I knew I was wrong about you all when I met Sixteen." Eighteen's heart plummeted.

"Did you know Sixteen well?" She asked tentatively. Gohan shook his head.

"I didn't know him for very long, but he was a lot like me. Neither of us really like fighting, actually. Sixteen wasn't even a living human, but he had more respect for life than I've seen in anyone. I really admired him; he had so much strength in his personality." There was silence for a moment, and Eighteen thought she would simply let it continue, but found herself saying something she hadn't expected to say at all.

"Dr Gero said that Sixteen was an unfinished model. He was also awakened once before we found him to track someone down that Dr Gero then shot to death." She didn't know why she'd said it. It came from some ugly part of her that wanted to crush Gohan's insistent optimism, because it just seemed so damn irrational and fragile in her world view. How could someone who knew so little about her, but enough to know the horrific violence she was capable of, persist in such a simplistic assumption that she was good? How could he make Sixteen sound like such a saint when he had no idea what he was capable of? She guessed that what she was really doing was pushing to see if such idealism was as fragile as it sounded.

But Gohan looked more puzzled than distressed by what she'd told him.

"Why did he shoot him?" He asked her.

"What?" Suddenly she regretted bringing it up. She didn't want to delve into the past all over again. "I guess because he had a score to settle, or – "

"No." Gohan interrupted. "I mean, Dr Gero's androids were supposed to be his servants, right?" Eighteen nodded noncommittally. "So if you use a deadly android servant to track someone down, wouldn't it make more sense for the android to do the dirty work and kill the guy for you?" Eighteen stared at him in wonder. Gohan shrugged. "I'd guess that Sixteen, being who he was, said he wouldn't do it, and Dr Gero had to resort to a gun. Sixteen looked pretty completed to me. Maybe Dr Gero decided that he was 'unfinished' because he disobeyed him and wouldn't kill someone."

Eighteen consciously shut her mouth. The kid had a point. Why _would_ Dr Gero have gone to the trouble of a gun if he had a killer android at hand to do it for him? Personal revenge didn't quite fit, because otherwise Dr Gero would never have bothered to make her or Seventeen, and spent the last ten years making himself into the ultimate android to kill Goku instead. Grudgingly, she acknowledged that Gohan was probably right.

Gohan was smiling up at the open blue sky, and spoke again. "You know, Sixteen saved the world too, in his own way. I would never have discovered my true strength if it hadn't been for him." He paused. "I'm really sorry he didn't make it through."

Eighteen was quiet, all of her previous affection for Sixteen came rushing back in waves of sadness, and she felt ashamed for having doubted him. He was completely artificial, made with less will of his own than she and Seventeen, along with being the supposed prototype model to them, and yet he'd turned out to be their superior in every way. She missed him. Sixteen could not be wished back - he had never been truly alive to begin with. His motherboard chip had been destroyed, and without that there was no rebuilding him. Even if she died and went to the Otherworld, she wouldn't find Sixteen there. He was gone like no one else could be gone.

"So am I." She replied at last. "He was my friend." And Gohan just smiled at her, letting her know he understood.

***X*X*X***

At sunset, the four of them headed back to the house together, in very good spirits. They found Chi Chi on the couch, intently rubbing her stomach. Before anybody said anything, Chi Chi gestured for them all to gather round and hush.

"He's kicking - oof! Come and feel it." Krillin and Gohan both put a hand on Chi Chi's belly, then grinned widely after a moment.

"I felt it too!" Gohan pulled away and Master Roshi tried the same. He giggled with glee when he felt the infant kick, but took advantage of the moment to over-step his bounds, as he could always be relied upon to do. His hand traveled up quite a bit further north than it should have, and Chi Chi's eyes suddenly turned extremely dangerous. Even Eighteen felt herself get annoyed on Chi Chi's behalf. Almost simultaneously, the women yelled out,

"PERVERT!" Chi Chi pulled in her legs at struck him in the chest, followed quickly by a hammer fist to the head by Eighteen. Master Roshi ended up stunned, with a nosebleed on the floor. Eighteen sincerely hoped the nosebleed was from being hit, and not from excitement over Chi Chi's chest. Chi Chi and Eighteen looked at each other, and nodded once in approval. After a moment, Chi Chi asked, "Would you like to come and feel the baby kicking too?" It was a sure sign that things were improving between the two women, and Eighteen paused only a little before slowly extending her hand. Chi Chi's body was warm, and her stomach perfectly round. She could feel the other woman's heartbeat almost as soon as she touched her stomach, and to her great wonder, she did feel the baby kick after a few moments too. It was alive and strong and almost ready to come into the world, and it tugged at Eighteen's heartstrings. She had never touched a woman who was with child before – that she knew of anyway – and her envy of Chi Chi grew sharp in that moment.

***X*X*X***

A cup of tea and another short chat later, Eighteen and Krillin loaded the still-unconscious Master Roshi into the back seat of the car. Krillin was careful to make sure none of the blood got onto his upholstery, before they drove off under cover of full dark.

On the drive home, Eighteen was lost in her thoughts and staring out the window. It was quite some time before she realised how unusually quiet the trip had been, as Krillin would usually fill in the gaps as he chatted to her. She glanced sideways at him, and noticed his expression was very set, almost grim, and rather unlike what she was used to.

"Krillin?" She asked. "What's the matter?"

"Hmmm?" He replied without moving. "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You haven't said a word the whole way home. Just say it." She replied tartly. Krillin upturned a corner of his mouth at her directness.

"No getting past you is there? I was thinking about how miserable Gohan makes me."

"Huh?" Eighteen was thoroughly confused. "That makes no sense at all."

"Heh. No I guess it doesn't. I'm amazed at how well he's handling Goku's death. He's not really sad at all, just accepting of how it has to be. I'm... not like that. I'm not a very strong person you see." He looked over at her with an ironic grin on his face, as though this was obvious. "I don't have that sort of personality that I can just accept it and bounce back when things in my life go away. I like to pretend I do, but I hate it actually. I don't really have a lot to begin with. I have Master Roshi," And he threw his thumb back over his shoulder at the KO'd old man in the back seat. "I have some strength, and I have a place to live. Goku was one of my only friends, probably the only one who really cared about me. When Chi Chi went under with her depression, I sympathised with her."

"Why didn't you do the same then?" Eighteen asked him.

"Because of you I guess." He replied wryly.

"Me?"

"Yeah. You were in much worse trouble than I was. It's not like I didn't feel the loss of Goku. Somehow, it's easier to forget how sad you are when you have somebody else who needs help. You seem to be feeling better lately, and so is Chi Chi, so going and seeing Goku's family was a little harder this time. Goku's gone, and he still has so much more than I do. I've always worried about ending up alone. It seems like he never is, no matter where he goes."

The corner of Eighteen's mouth turned up. Like herself, and unlike Gohan, Krillin had a cynical side to him, which she understood very well. Sometimes you just had to hate other people's happiness when you couldn't share in it.

"Strength isn't in deep wells of saiyan power, Krillin." She took him by surprise with the comment. "It's not in never letting the world get you down either. It's in putting your own troubles aside when other people hurt. It's in standing up when you know you'll never win the fight. You have strength and courage in spades."

Krillin gaped at her wondrously, and perhaps for a moment too long.

"Krillin, the road."

"Whoa!" Krillin wrenched the wheel sideways to get back in his lane and avoid hitting an oncoming truck. It beeped at him indignantly as it roared past. After giving him a few seconds to calm down, she dropped the bombshell.

"And it's not like you're alone you know. Next time we go to meet your friends, introduce me as your girlfriend."

She turned to face him then, eyes alight against the glowing controls of the car, heart throbbing hard in her anticipation. There, she'd said it. Krillin kept turning his head from the road to her and back again, unable to keep his eyes away from her. Finally, he slowed the car down and pulled over.

When the car stopped, without hesitating or saying a word, Krillin leaned over, pushed his lips onto hers and kissed her deeply. Eighteen felt the need in that kiss, the hope and the pressing emotion, and she received it all. Her arms went around his shoulders and she pulled him in, bringing his chest against hers. The feeling of release in that touch was intense and wildly fulfilling, and might have become a little hotter if a groan from the back seat hadn't reminded them that there was a third passenger in the car. Krillin broke the kiss and paused a few inches from her face, a deeper, compelling darkness in his eyes that sent an internal shiver through Eighteen. Then Krillin was back in the driver's seat, and Master Roshi was sitting up, blinking.

"Ugh... my head. Where are we Krillin?" He asked groggily.

"We're on the highway headed back from Mount Kao." Krillin answered, his eyes never leaving Eighteen's. "We'll be back to the shore in about half an hour."

"Huh. Why are we stopping?"

"I just needed a breather. We'll get going again now. Just strap yourself in."

***X*X*X***

After Master Roshi had gone to bed that night, and Eighteen and Krillin had been pretending to be watching the television set for almost half an hour, Krillin announced that he was going to bed too. Eighteen stood as well, and both hesitated before moving anywhere. Eighteen knew what was on the tip of Krillin's tongue, but realised from how nervous they both were that they weren't ready for that yet.

"I'll be in Goku's old room." She said softly. The relief in Krillin's eyes told her it was the right decision. She made her way to the staircase, but before she could get past him, Krillin's hand reached out and grabbed hers. He was warm. Always warm, and comforting.

"I just wanted to say thank you. For what you said about me being strong." And he squeezed her hand. Eighteen turned, bent down and kissed him gently on the lips. He closed his eyes and drifted into it.

"Goodnight Krillin." She said as she pulled away.

_~ Fin_.

***X*X*X***

**A/N: **

Thanks again to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. Most of the feedback I've heard about this story has been quite positive, the issue of the bullet probably being the only exception. Thanks as well to _lilDBZbuddy89_ for giving me my 100th review! That was pretty exciting for me.

Especial thanks to _Cj4Dj_, who has not only given me comprehensive and encouraging reviews for several chapters now, but has also done a beautiful fanart for chapter 24 of this fic! Please go and check her out, a small part of the artwork is currently the cover art for Lovefools, but the original can be found at her deviantart page:

crazyjen. deviantart art/ DBZ-FicPic-Lovefools-309700163

Just remove the spaces. There are many other great K/18 fanarts on her page. And yes, in answer to your question _Cj4Dj_, posting a link to the chestnut island tumblr for this fic is absolutely fine with me, thank you for asking!

Lovefools Part 1 is officially finished! I apologise once again for the amount of time it took to upload this chapter. I have rewritten it twice and am still not entirely satisfied with it, but the other rewrites would have given too much away for Part 2. Speaking of, Part 2 will take a while for me to start posting, so don't be expecting it anytime soon. I have a vague plot skeleton mapped out, but I need to solidify it and flesh it out before I start putting up chapters, and I'm intending to do a bit of DBZ re-watching first. Part 1 took us through the first seven months after the defeat of Cell, and mostly dealt with Eighteen's past. Part 2 will have a greater focus on Krillin, and depending on how much substance I come up with, there may or may not be a Part 3.

Don't get too excited if you see any updates for this fic from now on, I've been noticing a fair few sloppy grammar mistakes in previous chapters, and I've been systematically fixing them up. Feel free to point out any such mistakes to me, they get in the way of the reading experience and I'd rather know about the ones I've missed.

Now I would like some opinions from my reviewers. I'm having some issues with DBGT, in that it canonically contradicts itself. *GT SPOILER ALERT!*

Right before Krillin's murder by Seventeen, Krillin says something about Seventeen being angry with Dr Gero for building him with human emotions. This goes directly against Krillin telling Goku that the androids started out as human beings, and were 'just remodeled a little bit'. The only possible way I would see this as fitting in with DBZ canon is if Krillin is outright lying to Seventeen at this point, and I don't see a good reason for him to do so under the circumstances. There's also the issue with Eighteen saying that Seventeen managed to override his programming to kill Goku, whereas in the dub from the Android Saga it only indicates that Sixteen was actually programmed rather than just ordered to kill Goku. Opinions on this? I _can_ write the story that way, so that the canon links together, or should I just take GT with a grain of salt and write a more likely scenario? I have plans for Seventeen either way, I just want to know what to do about the GT problem.

Anyway, thanks again for all your support, I always appreciate your feedback. I hope you enjoyed Lovefools Part 1 and stick around for the next installment.

~ Draquia


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